I received a very odd email. They took the time to fill in the fields on my website so I know it was done by person and not by a bot.

I am 99.9% sure this is a scam, and if you received this same email, let me know. The site seems to be legit, and according to Wikepedia, this event also is legit. But the suspicious thing is the sender's email address (a free YAHOO account), poor grammar/lack of spelling, and the "promises". I replied to this person pretending I was interested (using a different email account and name) and then emailed the company site to ask them if this person is even part of their team. My question is, why would these scammers want our home address and contacts? Are they stalkers? Or going to send junk mail? Or really send tickets to us only to keep us in their country (this really happened when the models were sent to Brunai and kept hostage by the Sultan for 2 years - they thought they were going for something completely different and went through a realistic job interview casting process, only to be trapped and unable to return to their country). If any of you received this email, don't fall for this obvious scam! Do you think this is serious and if it is worth forwarding to the police?


Email:
-------------
Name: trecy jones

Address: 719 third street needles califonia

Email: [email protected]

Message: 


hi dear,
     this is to inform  you of our upcoming hair/make-up artist ,beauty  and fashion exhibition, we would love to invite you to this ocassion as our professional model ,, the show is coming up in the UK and also in africa and we did take care of your bills to the venue, mail me at [email protected] for more details.
  we are located in UK and  in Africa  respectively and we are a new modelling company ..OUR HEAD OFFICE IS AT NIGERIA BUT WE WOULD BE HAVING THIS FORTH COMING EXHIBITION IN THE UK..we actually started like 5 yrs ago..and this is one of the biggest event we are going to be hosting.... we have models coming from various part of the world like china, the united states,ghana,mexico, peru .... we are only involved with runway modelling, bill board shot, magazine shot and other personal contract that you would be offered when you recieve the invitation, that is if youwould be part of it....like i said the venue for this exhibition is at lagos Nigeria, from march Tue 21th - tuessday28th 2006. and all our models would be staying at EKO HOTELS, and we want you to know that we will be taking care of all the expenses TO the venue, your total income for this exhibition could range from $400- $7000 US dollars,  we are corrently making the documentation for those that have accepted our invitation and we would be sending them the ticket very shortly.. its a round trip ticket and your first payment would be $2000  for honouring the invitation along with your ticket.the payment would be given to you at your arrival at the venue but your ticket would be sent to you via U.P.S delivery, Hope that is welcoming to you... we hope to tell you more via phone in person but if you are intrested pls send me your details in the following other:
FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
HOME & MOBILE PHONE#:
NEAREST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
ANY HEALTH INFORMATION WE NEED TO KNOW:
AS SOON AS I GET THIS INORMATIONS I WOULD START WOKING ON YOUR FLIGHT RESAVATION TO THE VENUE AND YOUR TICKET WOULD BE DELIVER AT YOUR DOOR STEP ASAP AND ALSO AN UPFRONT PAYMENT SO THAT YOU WILL BE FINANCIALLY BOYANT.WE NEED TO BE SURE ABOUT YOU BEFORE PAYING FOR YOUR FLIGHT TICKET OK.WE ARE CURRENTLY DOING UPGRADING ON OUR SITE. silverbirds_entertainment.com THIS WAS OUR LAST LOCAL BEAUTY CONTEST YOU CAN CHECK OUT http://www.mbgnigeria.com/mbgn/default.asp
the exhibition is all about beauty stars in africa and all over the world coming together for a compitition to bring out and showcase  african  and internetional wears.... its being hosted by silverbirds entertainment and we are one of the leading modeling industries in africa,,,,,the exhibition would help to promote african culture through modeling and also help to bring africa close to the wider world ...... we are concerned in getting the best for this exhibition that is why we are taking our time to make the event known to all who are intrested and professionally active t take responsibilities in the exhibition.... we want you to know that your work load would be about 4hours per day during this exhibition  .....all make-up artist, models and photographer's  would be staying at EKO HOTEL which is a 5 star hotel mainly for this event ..as soon as you are sure of coming for the exhibition.... we would start the documentation process.....of course a contract paper would be sent to you when we would be sending out your ticket  to your address and you would have to fill and return it to our head office in africa..... we would tell you details about that soon.you do not have to spend anything on your expenses except you have to buy what you personally want ... mail me back if you are ineterested with your information and contact address ok....
trecy jones.

Great, first Nigeria wants our money. Now they want our models.

I got that same e-mail I ignored it though.

Oh okay, then it was just spammed to a bunch of models. I am just worried it will hurt others (no idea how they would) if other models were interested and replied!

Don't know if I got it-my spam filter would have caught it and I only scan it for emails it snagged by accident-not one I'm wanting I ignore it.

Nuke Nigeria.   They can't have the models if *I* can't have the models.

Call me 'WhiteBear Hefner' from now on please. 

I know this is a stupid question? How did they get your personal email?????

Aww man I just created a new thread for this b/c I couldn't find it when I searched for it.  Shoulda used "scam" in my search.  B/c I wasn't going to receive a check, I thought it wasn't like the other ones. I was trying to figure out where the scam actually was and sure enough they provided that for me.   Here's what they had to say after I asked a bunch of ?s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

hi dear....and thanks for your reply and interest on this exhibition...... its a fashion and runway exhibition and we do not do any nudy show here.... i got to know about your profile form our afiliates..... modelmayhem.com and they did give me alot of model which would be coming  for othis exhibition ...... we are going to be taking care of your flight ticket to  the venue and we would be sending you a round trip itcket as soon as we finished making your  document tion , we also have other dress designers that are currently making the wears you would need for these exhibition... your first payment would be $2000 dollars [they meant they would pay me that]on your arrival at the venue and this is different from other funds that you could make during the exhibition..... for every runway you do ..we are willing to pay the sum of $100 dollars so your total income for this show could be between $2000 - $6000 dollars, we have over 50 international companies coming for this exhibition which would showcase but african and international wears and designers  and if you are selected as one of the models to show case there designers..then you have more cash to make here......pls try and be at your best for these exhibition cus your looks is very important to us, you dont have to reimburse any funds been paid to you ..... once you are paid ..you are paid ok.....we take care of the feeding and you trip or ticket flight to the venue ...all security measures and also in place for your convenience ....... most of our model do prefer staying at there different hotel resavations but we do have a five star hotel which all incoming models are to  stay..... .....pls note that all incoming  models  ARE EXPECTED TO PAY THE SUM OF $100 WHICH IS CALLED TICKETTING INSURANCE FEE...IT IS USED TO SEND YOUR FLIGHT FUNDS TO YOUR DOOR STEP BEFORE YOUR TRIP ...THE FUND IS GOING TO BE REFUNDED BACK TO YOU ON YOUR ARRIVAL AT THE VENUE SO YOU NEEWD NOT TO WORRY ABOUT THAT...WE JUST HAVE TO BE SURE ABOUT YOU ....THAT IS WHY OUR COMPANY HAS TO IMPOSE THAT FEE SO AS TO GET THOSE HOW ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN THESE EXHIBITION.... MAIL ME BACK OK...... AND TELL WHAT YOU FEEL....
TRECY JONES

Ok well I decided to use 2 different accounts to reply to this scam to see what relaly happens. But now I need to probably rent or find some address to give them and see if they really do "send" these tickets. I want to get to the bottom of this and report them to the police because I am seriously worried that models are being recruited into abduction.

EMAIL IDENTITY #1: ROSE WHO WANTS TO GO:
So here we go, I replied back as "Rose" and pretended I was interested:
Hi Trecy,

Thank you for your email! Do you have a phone number I can contact you
first? Or do you want my address first? I am very excited!

Sincerely,
Rose

And the scammer's reply:
>hi rose ,
>       thanks for your reaply, we are presently working on the documentation of those that have accepted our invitation, it all depends on the venue which you would prefer to go for the modelling show...like i said we have one going on in the UK and another in the africa...... so we would start working on the venue documentation and other resavations for you as soon as you decide if you would come for the exhibition...... of course we would like to have your full address and also give you a call to speak to you personally.... where would you like to go? is it the exhibition in the UK or in nigeria...... we do all paper work from our head office in africa and we would be sending you your ticket from there........ pls endevour to give us a valid address because we would be verifying your address by sending  you your ticket funds there via UPS delivery so as to be sure about you......the funds would be sent by our financing agent, and they would be coming in internation money order,
>  when you recieve the funds ...you can cash them at your bank and you would have an upfront payment of $500 dollars,,,, you would have to send the rest funds to our head office in africa so that they can release your ticket to your address like i said in my first mail..... hope you understood it.....pls mail me back so that we can start working on your trip if you are inetrested ok...all the best and hope to hear from you soon.
>   trecy jones...
>   NB : send your full contact address to that we can start on the documentation...
>   here is our head office number ...you can speak to our area manager ....his name is mr john thomas....
>
>   trecy jones.


EMAIL IDENTITY #2: DISINTERESTED BRAT
"Whoa, do I ever smell SCAM. Dude, you don't even know me by name or
anything. And I found out you sent the same email to a bunch of people. Stop
using a bot and sending the same damn thing to everyone. Fwded your email to
the police, and a couple of us posted up your email letter and account on
modelling sites. GO TAKE SOME ENGLISH LESSONS FUCKER"

Scammer's Reply:
WHAT DA HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ????? DO YOU HAVE SOME RESPECT AT ALL? I GUESS YOU MUST BE TALKING TO YOUR FATHER, MOTHER FUCKER.....

Oh, I just emailed the Vancouver Police about this and asked them if I should go ahead with the fake PO box address so I can forward them the 'tickets' if need be, or if they can take a look at this case. Even if it turns out to be some dumb tiny scam, I still feel better if it is looked at. It could be that 0.01% chance that this is something bigger and they are stealing girls BUT it looks like all he wants is $100 from each model. What a moron! Sounds like the typing of a teenager too. If I can somehow get his address, I'd like to send a nasty surprise (a box full of real bugs hehe).

This is a money scam. there are many versions of this going around. The most common is from some royalty in Nigeria that needs money to escape the country or she will be killed.

It's the internet - home of the most complex and the most idiotic scams going around.

You never know. I think it would be a great idea to let the police view this email. You may save someones life!

It makes me sick to my stomach that people just can't earn their money honestly by either getting a damn job, or starting a real/legit business that doesn't scam people.  Damn shame these scams exist.  There is always someone desperate and naive enough to fall for these things, and it bothers me greatly.  Someone should start an professional organization that does nothing but seeks scams and warns people about them, esp models.

To all those concerned...It is true that Nigeria wants our money. Nigeria, is reputedly, the second most corrupt country in the world!

If you get any e-mails, asking for your assistance, help, etc... be wary, be very wary!

Most e-mails, messages, letters, checks, money orders, and yes even travelers checks, originating from Nigeria are fakes, scams, frauds, and counterfeit!

I am currently working with local authorities with a case now involving 2 fraudulant, forged checks... (sent to me).

When I received this type of email requesting a bank account number, I merely replied that they cut a cashier's check & I'll give them a remittance address. That tends to stop them, at least in my experience.

Wow, I'm glad I posted this up. You girls know a lot aobut this stuff. Ok I will keep you posted on if the police replies back to me (I honestly hope they won't discard this and ignore my request). One time I watched a movie that was created in Hong Kong and it was basically a story about women who had nothing in the farms in China, and were promised a "new life" in Hong Kong. As soon as they got there, they were abused, tortured if they fought back, and used for prostitution in the underground market. That's why my blood just went boiling when I thought about this happening here in real life to girls our age.

I talked to a friend about this forum we have going on here, and he told me that in some cases, the models who are sold into brothels/ prostitution in another country cannot ask for help because those countries are corrupt and lawless... no matter how much they beg for help, or the families plea for their freedom, American law cannot apply to those places... and the police and criminals work together there too so the governments are actually in on this black market. Once those women are too old and no longer useful to their abductors, they are killed so they can never report these stories... and are never freed.

Sorry if this is a bit of a dark thread, but I just thought we should think about safety as our #1 priority, and that behind some of this glamour -- there are dark places.

In reading this I was thinking of the scam that came around to a few of my friends and I with web sites for hair and makeup.  They wanted to hire me, pay whatever I asked.  Fly me to mostly states on the other coast.  The jobs were for weddings.  The emails, from the bride.  The spelling was always just a bit off along with grammer.  One of my biggest pet peves is email that isn't spell checked when it comes regarding business.  If these brides had this much money to spend then they must have an education etc...  Now the kicker was this.  The money would be sent to you via a bank check.  Before the check cleared, the bride died.  Poor thing.  Of course someone contacted you with the news and asked if you could please send the deposit back.  Yea right. The check was no good.  So I emailed every beauty site I could about this.  Your doing the right thing.  Trust me.  We have to stick together.  Lets face it, we're kinda like a professional family of sorts.  The other thing you can do is contact www.behindthechair.com  Send the emails to them.  They will investagate and let you know about the "shows". This is a site for hairdressers.  I tcontains information that is world wide.  You'll get yur answer fast.  R-

OK Ok I did spell check my reply, really!

[b] oh this scam again!!!!


WARNING!!!!!!


this scam has been going around but in a diffrent form! usally its when you want to sell something like i was selling my b/f's guitar and this guy contacts me from the "uk" under the name john smith saying ill pay 200 bucks for it but ill send you and 4000 check, just send him the remainder of the money. so when i got it, it was from nigeria. ....weird, so i brought it to the bank and they said it was fake and that these people from africa has been sending fake money orders and telling people to cash it and send the remainder of the money. the catch is people dont know its fake until 2-3 weeks after they cash the check and by then they sent the payment already, and..... YOUR screwed because now you have to pay the bank all the money back.

i did my research on the internet, and alot of people fell for it.


this sounds exactlly the same but the diffrence is they would send you the money for the plane ticket blah blah blah


dont fall for it, i would trust it... if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is


anha

... and now for something completely different...

Let's talk about the photography / modeling aspect of the Nigerian419 scammers.  Y'know, this IS a photography / modeling website.  We should be commenting on the lighting, poses, and bad photoshop technique used when photographing such scammers.

If you don't know what I mean, check out the following website.  I think you'll all get a kick out of it!:

http://www.419eater.com/html/hall_of_shame.htm

of course its a scam.. they are asking for money up front...If someone is that interested THEY will pay YOU.... I had a similar email...went right to the trash bin... SCAM

oh... and a ligit job will send a contract FIRST... Thats what email is for.. (send it with your ticket??  After you send the $2,000????)  ughh... this is so crazy!! I hope people don't actually fall for this!!

I just checked my SPAM folder and found not one but THREE of those exact emails. They sent it to my Yahoo address too.

I hope no one falls for it.

I get several of these a week - I've gotten this particular one three or four times in the last two weeks or so. Interestingly enough, it didn't show up in my business email addy, but in a personal one - where all the other Nigerian stuff is sent.

The remarkable things is, these things would stop if the scam wasn't working for the senders.

FWIW -

Bill Ballard
Blue Water Photography
Savannah, GA
[email protected]