Here is the one rule that catches almost every modeling scam: a real agency makes money when you make money. A scam makes money from you. Legitimate agencies earn a commission after you book and get paid for a job. Scams earn their money up front, from the people who want to be models, and the work never comes. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has a whole page on it, and the signs it lists are the same ones we hear about from girls who come to us after getting burned somewhere else. The 7 warning signs. 1. They ask you to pay. A fee to register, a fee for a test shoot, a fee to "secure your spot" for a job. The FTC is blunt about it: any agency that asks for money to represent you is a scam. Classes are a different thing. A modeling class or school charges for training, and that can be legitimate, as long as it is optional, you know exactly what you are paying for, and nobody tells you it is the price of getting cast. 2. You have to use their photographer. The "portfolio package" is the oldest scam in the business. Legitimate agencies start with simple digitals you can take on your phone, and they never require you to use their own staff for photos or auditions. 3. They guarantee work. Nobody can guarantee bookings. Not us, not the biggest agency in New York. A guarantee is a sales pitch. 4. They promise big money. Real pay is a rate for a job, quoted when the job is offered. Talk of a huge salary before you have done anything is bait. 5. They rush you to sign. "This offer expires today." "We only have two spots left." A legitimate agency will let you take a contract home, read it and ask questions. 6. They tell you how to pay. Cash only, gift cards, wire transfers, payment apps or crypto. The FTC calls these out by name, because once the money is gone you cannot get it back. 7. They brag, but no one has heard of them. Big talk about famous clients, and nothing you can find on your own. Search the company's name with the words scam, review and complaint before you do anything else. The DM scam. A lot of this has moved to Instagram and TikTok. An account messages you saying a brand wants you, then asks for a deposit, a "booking fee" or your bank details so they can pay you. Real casting teams can tell you who they are, give you a company email address and a website you can check, and never need your banking information to say hello. Your rights in California. California bans advance fee talent representation (Labor Code, section 1702). Nobody can charge you up front to represent you, or for the promise of auditions, work or an agent, and nobody can make photos, lessons or a website a condition of representing you. Talent services that sell things like classes are allowed, but they must post a $50,000 bond with the Labor Commissioner, give you a written contract that says in bold that it is not a talent agency contract, and let you cancel for a full refund within 10 business days. A willful violation is a crime, and a scammed artist can sue for at least three times what she paid. Your rights in Florida. Talent agencies must be licensed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and you can look up a license on the state's website in under a minute. Agencies may not charge a registration fee or make you buy photos, classes or workshops as a condition of registering (Florida Statutes, section 468.410). Running an unlicensed talent agency is a felony. If you live somewhere else, check your state attorney general's consumer protection office. Many states license or bond talent agencies. What a real casting looks like. You apply for free. You send honest photos, usually a headshot and a full length shot with no filters. If you are a fit, someone contacts you from a real company email or phone number, tells you what the job is and what it pays, and invites you to an audition or a video call. You can bring someone with you. You get the terms in writing. You never pay to be considered. How Rockstarr Media works. Rockstarr Media has been in business since 2001. Applying is free and our online Modeling Academy is free. Talent never pays to be considered or to be booked, and any paid class we offer is optional, separate from casting and never a condition of being cast. If anyone claiming to represent Rockstarr Media asks you for money, it is not us. Tell us at hello@rockstarrmedia.com. If you have been scammed. Stop paying, keep every message, receipt and contract, and report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. In California you can also contact the Labor Commissioner, and in Florida the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Sources: Federal Trade Commission, "Modeling Scams" (consumer.ftc.gov); California Labor Commissioner, Department of Industrial Relations; California Labor Code sections 1701 to 1705; Florida Statutes sections 468.408 to 468.413; Florida DBPR.