LA Models
Complaint 23176 Details

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011, I responded to a casting on craigslist.org requesting models for an awards show. Two days later, on September 24th, I received a text message from 310-845-6695 saying:
"Hello. This is Jennifer from the hip hop awards casting. Can you participate in a conference call in about an hour? There will not be another opportunity."
me: yes
"What time is it now your time?"
me: 7:39
"The Call will be at 8:45. Call 218-862-2305. The conference code is 593147. Be on time. If you log in early, wait for me to come on the line. There will be others on the call as well."

When I called in to the conference call, the administrator, Jennifer, was not yet on the call. However, there were 5 other girls on the line waiting. When Jennifer entered the call, she stated that she was a representative of BET and that they were doing last minute casting for the upcoming Hip Hop awards show in Atlanta. She said the show was on the 11th but the selections would be made by the 26th. The trip would be paid for, including hotel and transportation to ATL, as well as a $300/hr rate for the duration of the taping. During the conference call, we were asked our names, our modeling experience, and if we were signed with an agency. When everyone responded no, she stated that for payment purposes, BET can only work with signed models and suggested that we sign with LA models (tlama.org). She said that since BET is based in LA, that they worked with LA models regularly. This seemed a little unordinary, as we were found on craigslist so the likelihood of us being signed was little to none. The call ended with us being told to register with the site, which required a $60.00 registration fee, and then contact her again. As I did not have the money right away, a day passed and I did not hear anything from Jennifer. Then that night I received a text message saying:
"Hello. This is Jennifer. I am just reminding you that tomorrow is the last day to get everything together. I have not heard any word from you or that you have become registered with LA Models, and you have no real representation. Please get in contact with me on your progress, or let me know if you are no longer interested so I can take you off the list. Thank you."
At this point, I remember that I am signed with a non-traditional promotional modeling agency so I decided to give her this information.
me- "Hi Jennifer, I am definitely still interested. I remember that I have a contract with Method Models and I need to give them a call tomorrow. I will contact you tomorrow, thanks."
Jennifer- "OK. Let me know so I have time to verify with them."
me-Ok, will do.
me- [next morning] "Good morning Jennifer! this is .... I am affiliated with Kandu Marketing as a promotional model and also Method Models. Do you need any other information from me?"

I got no response from Jennifer so I assumed that things had not gone through with my agency and decided to just register with LA models. After paying the fee, and setting up my page with the site, I contacted her again.
me- "Hi Jennifer, this is ...I registered with LA models. My username is ...."
jennifer- "Ok. Great. I will confirm with them and get back to you."
me- "Hi Jennifer, did everything go through with LA models? and when will I get more info on the event?"
That was on September 27th and I have still not received a response.

Upon further investigation of the site and it's workings, some red flags became clear. First, none of the links on the site work, such as the twitter, facebook, blog, etc. that there are buttons for in the top right hand corner. Second, there is no phone number to call. There is only an email address. Upon sending an email to the address listed on the site, [email protected], I received this response instantly:

Mail Delivery System [email protected] to me
show details 9:33 AM (47 minutes ago)
This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:
[email protected]
(ultimately generated from [email protected])
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<[email protected]>:
host gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [74.125.45.26]:
550-5.1.1 The email account that you tried to reach does not exist. Please try
550-5.1.1 double-checking the recipient's email address for typos or
550-5.1.1 unnecessary spaces. Learn more at
550 5.1.1 http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6596 d47si1754343yhn.95

This rang a bell because when I registered with the site, I received a confirmation email, as you do with most sites, but Gmail issued this warning: Gmail detected that the email was sent via another mail service. This means that the sender may be using a third-party email service to generate this message. For example, the message may have been sent through a social networking site which offers an email service or sent through a mailing list that you’re subscribed to.
Gmail displays this information because many of the services that send emails on behalf of others don’t verify that the name that the sender gives matches that email address. We want to protect you against misleading messages from people pretending to be someone you know.

There is no way to contact the site or it's representatives.
Thirdly, there is no way to see any one else's profile.
Fourth, the site claims to help you get jobs and have a job board. None if which is available. The only information the site gives is why you should join it. Please be careful, do not trust www.tlama.org.