Bogus WebsiteseModel.com claimed supermodels use eModel.com's services. As proof of this, they show prospective clients the supermodels on their website. It is part of the company website tour during their marketing presentations. Aspiring models are shown the web pages of the supermodels and their vital statistics before being asked to sign with eModel.com.
In one published news report, the reporter wrote about the eModel.com presentation and sales pitch to a group of aspiring models at one of their meetings at eModel.com's Norfolk, Virginia franchise. Mars was the 23-year-old eModel.com "talent executive."
It was not only the eModel.com talent executive, but also the eModel.com franchise owner who said supermodels were using eModel.com: "Even they can always use more work." Which supermodels could use more work? The list included Tyra Banks and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Tyra and Rebecca are both represented by the prestigious modeling agency, IMG Models, in New York. Nadine Johnson, the public relations representative for IMG Models, was informed of the way eModel.com was using the supermodels for promotion.
But the featured supermodels on eModel.com's web went much further and far beyond just Tyra Banks and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. It included: Linda Evangelista An eModel.com senior vice president told reporter Joanne Kimberlin the eModel.com franchise owner must have made a "mistake." She said the supermodel pictures and information was not on eModel.com's website, it was an outside link. Then she said the link had been removed. However, the supermodel pictures on an eModel.com website were seen more than a month after the senior vice president said a link had been removed (see above list). There is no indication the supermodels were ever on another site, or that there ever was just a link. eModel.com used a numerical address for the pictures (XXX.XX.XXX.XX). This allowed them to have a website without their company name. Website addresses are typically in letters (or letters and numbers), but they can also be set up in numbers only. When XXX.XX.XXX.XX was visited, the first thing that came up was a web page entitled, "Welcome to eModel.com." Then the exact same flash animation intro seen on eModel.com started. Someone who heard and accepted the line about supermodels using eModel.com had posted in an internet forum the web addresses eModel.com used to present supermodels, and these all started with XXX.XX.XXX.XX. e.g., XXX.XX.XXX.XX/viewmodels/ Six of the entire list were checked, and each page showed a picture of a supermodel, her vital statistics, and the agency which represented her. e.g., Claudia Schiffer Measurements: 35.5-24.5-35.5 The use of supermodels is corroborated by a woman who publically posted her experience on October 4, 2001, in an internet forum. She was scouted by eModel.com, and said the same thing: eModel.com used pictures of supermodels as part of its commercial presentation. But first there was an evaluation.
The interesting thing about the story was the woman who told it said she worked in travel sales. There she was, a saleswoman by trade, receiving a sales pitch. "I work in travel sales and you can’t sell to a salesman," she said. She felt their selling techniques were illegal once she checked and found out eModel.com was not affiliated with the supermodels with whom they claimed to be affiliated. Copyright © 2001 Modeling Scams. All rights reserved. |