The Ga11ery, 26a Market Place, London W1

www.thega11ery.co.uk

My daughter Alice (not her real name) was approached on Monday through StarNow and offered a free photoshoot in London on the Friday of that week. She was told that she would be having a VIP session with champagne and nibbles during the shoot. Would she bring outfits for the four seasons to obtain a range of pictures suitable for fashion shoots. When Alice asked about any costs she was told not to worry about that - bring what she could afford. At the time Alice already had another shoot booked, in Swansea, but cancelled it because this one sounded more up-market.

On the day she went up with my wife and the shoot went ahead, although without the promised refreshments. Once completed they were told to wait nearby for a little while so that the models with potential who had been short-listed could be assessed, and walked off to a bar down the road. A phone call then asked them to return to the studio where Alice was told that she had been selected as the best model. This came from a man who said he represented Universal Models and wanted to take Alice on with promises of three or four jobs a month for at least a thousand pounds each. He said he would be getting commission on these shoots from the clients involved. Alice was very excited by this, obviously. He then said that he had a contract for her which was for a photoshoot next Monday for Coach (Handbags) in London. The budget for this was £2900, to be paid on the day. More than this, he added that Coach had agreed that, if Alice signed over the copyright to the images, she could be used on posters, flyers and all sorts of advertising - in fact becoming the new face of Coach. In return she would be paid between 10 and 20 thousand pounds, ‘probably between 12 and 14 thousand’, he said. Now Alice was even more excited at the future prospects. Then came the sting in the tail - Alice needed to pay £3800, now, ‘to show commitment’ and to ensure that she would turn up for the shoot on Monday.

Alice tried to raise a loan to cover this - not having that amount available - but, luckily, was turned down. Alice phoned me to see what I could do, but I was sceptical. I spoke to the salesman and asked for the contract to be sent over so I could see it - and was told that wasn’t possible ‘because it’s an e-document’ - whatever that’s supposed to mean. I asked, ‘With all this money on offer next week why can’t it be paid out of that, as it isn’t available here and now?’ I was told that Alice needed to show commitment.

The net result was an extremely upset Alice having to travel home on the train with her dreams shattered. Had she paid up, of course, the end result would have been even worse. It’s a certainty that there would have been a phone call over the weekend saying that ‘Coach had decided not to go ahead - not our fault, sorry, we’ll be in touch when something else comes up.’  So, one way or the other, there was one very disappointed girl going home - and the atmosphere at home was frosty, with me being blamed for stopping it going ahead. What really angered me was the way that these scammers prey on aspiring models looking for their big break, building their hopes and dreams up, feeding them with a pack of lies then, attempting to fleece them of a lot of money for nothing. All this is done without any consideration of how they are affecting the model, and even others around that person. If they pay they’ve lost good money, if they don’t they’ve had dreams shattered.

A few days later I phoned Coach and asked about the possibilities of this having any truth about it. The response was ‘most certainly not.’ I was asked to email details in to be passed to the relevant person as they were not happy about their good name being used in this way. I also contacted the Fraud Action Line and, although it was a very long-winded call, passed all the details on to them also. The case is now being processed by the Fraud Squad.

A search for reviews regarding The Ga11ery hadn’t shown up anything bad, or good either, but when checking the domain the reason for this became apparent. The website claims over 15 years experience, yet the domain had only been registered some 30 days previously, when checked with domaintools.com. It will probably close shortly, if not already, and the scammers will then open up under another name. All in all the whole technique appears to have been very well-practised and convincing.

UPDATE: The website thega11ery.co.uk is now broken - they’ve probably changed their name again.

See thread on Student Room https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6302620 for more stories - but ignore the fake positive comments - how hard do you think it is for the scam artists to sign up and post glowing comments?

Send YOUR story for us to publish as a warning to others - you can remain anonymous if you choose

Email: new.models.2020@gmail.com

HORROR STORIES

Here are some extracts from a company calling themselves Wright Modeling Agency, supposedly based in Virginia, USA according to their website.

The approach came through Instagram:

The name Pamela L Wills appeared at the top - wright_fashionbookings

“My name is Ms P Louise and I’m the talent manager and head booker for wrightmodelingagency.com

We are currently looking for new faces and freelance models for an international shoot with Balenciaga in London…

Models would be advertising newly manufactured products from Balanciaga and used in magazines, billboards and TV commercials… this is a direct booking and a paid job… guarantee shoot,,, the job is taking place at the Pickle Gardens, beside the Pickle Factory, London…

All models are to arrive Friday 2nd Oct … to meet the agency team, Balenciaga representatives, photographers, hair and make-up artists… shooting will be 12 to 3pm on 3rd and 4th Oct

The client (Balenciaga) covers models and chaperones flight/train, feeding and hotel reservations”

At this point the model wisely declined to go any further. Can it be thought of as realistic that a fashion company would agree to pay travel/food and accommodation for  an unknown number of models - how many would turn up?

Aside from this the agency is passing themselves off as a reputable agency Wright Model and Talent Agency - also based in Newport News, Virginia - and the owner is receiving a growing number of complaints and enquires from concerned models.

The company website wrightmodelingagency.com states company founded in 2000 but the domain was only registered three months ago (as of Nov 2020) The phone number is ‘unrecognised’ - the email is unanswered - the address is the old studio of the legitimate Wright Model and Talent Agency (and can be seen on Google Street of 2016) but which is now a Mexican restaurant.

Have you been approached in this way? Please let me know (email above) as the more information at hand the better to combat this type of scam.

UPDATE:

I have now spoken to Balenciaga in London and, of course, they are very concerned about this scam, and their good name being used fraudulently.

UPDATE:

I’ve now seen that the fake website for wrightmodelingagency.com is a direct copy of another legitimate site for Identlty Models, of New York. Compare the ‘About’ pages www.theidentitymodels.com - the owner has filed a complaint with the cyber crime department of the FBI. He also stated that Pamela Wills, aka P Louise, also trawls for younger models with the Instagram profile @thekids_teensfashionbooking

IF YOU HAVE A STORY ABOUT THESE SCAM ARTISTS PLEASE EMAIL NEW.MODELS.2020@GMAIL.COM

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Moon Talent Agency

Tiffany was approached on Instagram who told us “I was recruited by Josephine at Moon Talent Managemernt (@moontalentagency) for the WHO COVID Shoot in Austin TX. She said I would have to pay a $400 caution fee before being able to shoot. She found me on Instagram from my star now account and I noticed the old Instagram posts say “silverline” and also “wright modeling agency”. After sending only the contract (see more)

Moon Talent Management                                                                        Click HERE to see the contract

I was scammed over the weekend by “Josephine” from Moon Talent Management.  She approached me through Instagram after seeing my StarNow profile and offered me a role as an extra for a WHO Covid commercial being shot in Stockholm at Drottningholm Slott.  I live in Sweden, so that seemed to make sense that she was looking for someone local in the area.

She said that a 400 euro caution fee was required to ensure that I showed up for the job. I unfortunately gave a credit card.  They charged me $490 and (see more)

Andrea’s story

Hi

I came across your website when researching Wright modelling agency as I’ve been approached on Instagram

See attached screenshots (see more)

Craig’s Story

Hi, saw some stories on the internet about the scam. I have been contacted myself about a modelling job in London for Belenciaga. I got as far as receiving a contract via my email which says they want a £230 costume fee but I’ll get it back on the day of shoot. Of course I haven’t paid that because I believe it may be a scam. (see more)

Gill’s Story - and this is what the site is all about…

Contacted today by Ms P Louise claiming to be head booker for Wright modeling agency exactly the same story as described.

She started asking questions about my daughter ... luckily I found your site!!

Gill

Annie’s Story

Thank you for your amazing findings see attached a message i got. I didn't fall for it at all due to the fact I'm a lingerie model and do not fit the brief of the client. But i have to say the website they have etc does make them look realish. Your page helped me confirm it xx

Thanks again

Annie

Lillian’s Story - she sent in this screenshot video…

Artur’s Story

I have received details from Artur W. who had exactly the same approach (so closely worded that it would have to been copy and pasted). He took it a little further and, after being sent a contract for the job (which was originally dated wrongly) he was then asked to pay £230 “costume deposit” which would be refunded at the shoot. The money was to be paid into a bitcoin wallet account. He was taken through (see more)

Louise’s Story

Hi, I have just signed up with Star Now. However,  I have been 'approached' by a lady called Josephine, from Wright Modeling agency.

Saying I’m suitable for Tv Commercial by WHO for COVID19.  But...I have been asked to pay £300 (see more)

Wright Modeling Agency - Wright Fashion Bookings - Moon Talent Agency - Moon Talent Management

Pamela L Wills - Ms P Louise - Josephine

Kristi’s Story

Another victim of this scam I’ve heard from is Kristi Y. Who went as far as paying £240 deposit after some hard sell tactics. When she realised that she had been duped she was fortunate enough to be able to get her bank to refund the money. The initial approach was exactly the same as above.

This has been logged with Action Fraud Ref No. NFRC201104020692

Coincidently she was also caught out by a ‘support agency’ trading out of 26a Market Place, London (see The Ga11ery story below) - using yet another new name - which is an all too common trick.

Moon agent sales pitch saga - if you want to find out how tenacious a caller can be check this out!!! It’s a long read, split into 3 parts, and took place over many hours                                                           Start HERE