English
Scam test

Types of scams

The photo blackmailer (sextortion)

Someone who obtained intimate photos of you, or claims to have them, threatens to publish them or send them to your family, school or agencies unless you send more photos, agree to another shoot or meet them. Sometimes they ask for money too.

It often starts as one of the other scams: a "test shoot", photos "to assess you", a private session. Once the photos exist (or the person claims they do, or fabricates them), the tone flips from flattering to threatening: send more, come to another session, or everyone sees them. Sometimes there is a demand for money as well. It is a crime, and the police take it seriously.

How to recognise it

  • It began with photos or a shoot that already broke the first warning sign.
  • The tone changes overnight: from compliments to threats and deadlines.
  • The demands escalate: more photos, then a shoot or a meeting, sometimes money, always urgent and always secret.
  • "Nobody can help you", "the police won't do anything", "if you tell anyone I'll publish them": isolating you is part of the method.

What to do

  1. Do not send anything else, and do not pay if money comes up. It never ends there; giving in only proves the threat works.
  2. Do not delete anything. Screenshots with dates of every message, profile and payment request are what the report needs.
  3. Report it to the police. Threatening to publish intimate images is a crime almost everywhere, and there are units for it.
  4. Get ahead of the images: StopNCII.org helps prevent them from being shared on the main platforms, and every platform has a takedown form for intimate images shared without consent.
  5. Tell someone you trust. Isolation is what the blackmailer counts on; you do not have to handle this alone.

How it sounds

Hey, thanks for the test shoot yesterday, the photos came out great. Send me a few more from home, something more intimate, so I can finish the series. Red flag · Undressing to assess
No, I'm not comfortable with that. Please delete the ones you took.
Careful. I have your photos and I know your family's names. Send the rest tonight or they go online. Red flag · Pressure
I'm not sending anything, and I'm keeping these messages.
Last chance. One more set tonight and I delete everything. Tell anyone and I publish. Red flag · Pressure
I'm not sending anything. I'm reporting this to the police and to the platform.
Verdict: scam

Blackmail with images is a crime. Do not send more, do not pay, keep everything, report it, and use StopNCII.org to keep the images off the main platforms.

The other types of scams

The self-proclaimed nude "artist"

Not a photographer, but works hard to look like one. What they want is to meet you and see you undressed; the photos are beside the point.

How to recognise it

The bogus scout, agency or magazine

A company that exists only in messages. Pornography and prostitution recruitment often hide behind this front.

How to recognise it

Pay-to-play "agencies"

Fees for registration, books, courses or exclusive castings. Real agencies make money by getting you work, not by getting you to pay.

How to recognise it

The nude casting trap

A well-paid job for a great client, as long as the "casting" involves undressing for someone you know nothing about.

How to recognise it

The impersonator

Uses a real photographer's or agency's name, logo and stolen photos. The person writing to you is not the person you look up.

How to recognise it

The model scam test

Eight quick questions about the offer you received. The verdict follows the six warning signs of a model scam. Nothing is stored; nobody but you sees your answers.

  1. 1 Did they ask for photos in underwear or nude, "to see your body" or "to assess you"?

    Agencies assess new faces with polaroids: plain clothes, natural light, no make-up.

  2. 2 Did they give you details you can check yourself: the client, an agency name, a landline, an office address, a website?

    Facts you can confirm on your own, not screenshots or logos.

  3. 3 Are you being asked to pay anything before working: a registration fee, a book, a course, travel or visa costs?

    Agencies earn when you earn.

  4. 4 Are you being pressured: decide today, keep it confidential, or annoyance and bad manners the moment you ask questions?

    Real professionals expect to be checked and never mind the questions.

  5. 5 Can you bring a friend or a parent to the first meeting, in an office, a studio or a public place?

    Real castings happen in offices and studios, and nobody minds your friend in the waiting room.

  6. 6 Did they ask to move the conversation to WhatsApp, Telegram or a personal email right away?

    Off the platform, nothing can be reported.

  7. 7 Have they threatened to publish or send photos of you if you don't send more, do another shoot or meet them (or pay)?

    That is blackmail, a crime. Do not send more, keep everything, report it.

  8. 8 Have you found the agency or photographer yourself (their own website, their own phone number) and confirmed the offer with them?

    The one step that defeats almost every scam.