This is a more personal blog post today: I was targeted for a pretty scary scam.
Ever get a job offer that seems too good to be true? And you hope and hope that it really is! I got a email yesterday from someone at Instyle magazine offering me a job on a photoshoot for them. It was all paid for and a super crazy paying job. Oh god how I was excited and flattered and then my logical self kicked in. Is this a real person?
Here is the full story and what to do when you get one of these emails. There are a few updates at the bottom please read these too!
I got this email in my work email account:
Hi,
We are hiring makeup artists for the December edition of InStyle Magazine. I came across your profile on ModelMayhem while scouting for talents that will suit the case. I’d be glad working with you and if you are looking to expand your portfolio, working with InStyle Magazine is just right. You will be meeting new photographers, directors, studio manager and producers from California and New York. You will also be working with models from Louisiana.
Do reply if you are interested and I will give you further details.
Kind Regards,
Selene Milano
Senior Beauty Editor Instyle Magazine1271 Avenue, AmericasSuite 26-114, New York, NY 10020-1300
Obviously I first jumped up and danced thinking wow that modelmayhem site actually works. Lots of people seem to get great jobs from it and I have even had a few job offers that were legitimate from it. I was so excited that someone saw my work. But then I thought ” is this a real person?”. So I googled “Selene Milano Instyle magazine” and yup she came up.
I answered back thinking that okay, so this is a real person: it must be legit.
The Second email was sent the next day and I got even more excited. I freaked out so hard, calling my husband saying “OMG I get a free trip to make money!” I went through so many feelings, happy, pride, “am I good enough?” and then worried.
Dear Scotia
Your email was received and it shows you are willing to be a part of the shoot. This edition of InStyle Magazine will be shot in New Orleans on the 27th of November, 2016 and the crew is expected to be available from 9am till the end of the shoot, which should be by 4pm. Hotel accommodation will be provided for all. As for travel, a round trip e-ticket would be issued and sent to you via email at due time if you do not live within Louisiana. As for you residing in Canada, that’s not an issue at all as your travel, meal and hotel expenses would be covered by our company. We have also made an arrangement with our consulate so they issue a temporary work permit at our point of entry in New Orleans to any of our personnel who is not a resident of United States.
The shoots will be used for the magazine pages and the pictures will also be exhibited on our website. Therefore, you are required to be flexible, reliable, self-motivated, enthusiastic, with a professional appearance and a passion for delivering exceptional service. You must have excellent interpersonal, communication and listening skills. You should also have up-to-date knowledge of available make-up kits and beauty products.
You will be paid $1000 for your service with a 50% deposit on agreement. In the rare case of overtime, you will be paid $50/hr for the overtime.
Key Responsibilities:
You will be responsible for applying make-up aesthetically for models; Apply make-up to the models using a color palette and different tools such as mascara, sponges, eyebrow shapers, lip liners, brushes, and applicators.
Match skin color to color palettes to determine best looks.
Ensure make-up looks natural and well-applied under different lighting.
Apply touch-ups as necessary and remove makeup from clothes if some is transferred.
Wipe off make-up and reapply as needed.
Ensure appropriate action is taken to minimize unpleasant side effects from the use of specialist make-up techniques.
Maintain a clean work area and ensure all work instruments are sanitized in accordance with InStyle standards.
Ensure continuity in make-up and liaise with other members of the design team to ensure the overall look/effect is consistent and coherent.
Budget and order materials and equipment from our specialist vendors.
You stand a chance of making a reasonable amount from this deal, and even a noticeable fame. I believe that it will be a positive experience for you especially if you are looking to expand your portfolio.
Kindly let me know if you are fully willing to accept this job offer and can meet the above responsibilities listed.
Best regards,”
This looks super legit right? It really seems like there is a job. They know enough about makeup and what would be expected on a photoshoot. Then I realized there is 1. no instyle header, 2. when they first emailed me, it wasn’t addressed to me, just “hi” and 3. there is no phone number listed.
I called what I thought was the same number and got a corporate office building admin for the Rockefeller corp and gave them the address and she told me they moved a year ago and currently that floor is under renovations.
I was still naivee enough to think “well maybe this lady hasn’t changed her email signature yet for whatever reason.” I really want this job in a city that I have never been to but really do want to visit, come on now who doesn’t want to go to Voodoo shops and visit the Lestat house?
I talked to my 3 friends who are photographers in the industry, they all travel the world for some really fun things so I wanted to make sure I’m not being too paranoid from watching lots of human trafficking documentaries on netflix and all the “Hostel” movies.
One said it seemed fine, but he is very out going and does a lot of gureilla photohgraphy.
Another said it sounded pretty professional and even the 50% payment up front was a good key to knowing if it was real or not. BUT he was thinking “why are they out sourcing makeup artists from little Thunder Bay to the states, I’m sure there are enough mua’s there of the same caliber as you. If the shoot was in Toronto or Winnipeg or somewhere closer it would make sense.”
My last friend said all the calling around I was going to do was a great idea, and she hopes it was real. She said it probably wasn’t because of the wage they were giving me was too much, the fact that they could fast track a work visa like that was strange and the fact that it was all free was stranger. A work visa from Canada to the US usually takes 2 months to process(says the Canadian consulate’s website) and costs around 1500$.
So I called the office for instyle and left a voicemail, I tried to track down a actual contact number for Ms. Milano on twitter and on instagram and left her some direct messages asking if it was her and letting her know someone is impersonating her if its the opposite of the case.
I called my friend who has family in the states and told her, she was too at first very excited for me. While I was driving to work she researched a bit for me and found out that the address wasn’t the right address. She contacted the building’s front desk and found out instyle isn’t there. The security officer at the rockefeller building at 1271 Ave said that he has been getting lots of phone calls about it. He asked if I could forward him the email and he sent it to security for Time magazine (they own instyle) and he has now confirmed its a scam.
I have messaged the moderators of modelmayhem.com, I have left voicemails, emails, direct messages for instyle editors and staff members, left my information and forwarded copies of this email to security staff for both buildings and the Time magazine corp. I am also now going to be sending this information as it has a date, time and place where these people will be meeting and looking for prospective young women who are just trying to make some money, to the RCMP, the New Orleans Human Trafficking Working Group @ www.endslaverynow.com and will continue to try to help as many people as I can.
I can not tell you that I know this is human trafficking, or a credit card or personal identity scam because they never asked for any of my information yet… I am waiting to hear back as while I was still in the “I hope its real, let me just test them.” phase I asked for more information and what else they needed from me.
As I kept looking into this type of scam and hoping that my “Hostel” joke was just that, a joke… nope. This came up:
and this:
However, the website that promises to connect aspiring models with the people who can help rocket them to fame is now being investigated for its role in the disappearance, rape and trafficking of more than a dozen women across the country. – ABC News 17 kmiz
and this:
“I thought at first it was just me,” said Doe. “But then I realized it happened to more and more women.” Flanders and Callum had allegedly been using the ModelMayhem.com site to lure victims to Miami since 2006. –Forbes.com
And more and more and more with headlines and tags of “sex human trafficking, rape, woman gone missing, etc.” when linked to this website.
I have seen almost exactly this scam but instead of Instyle it was PLUS model magazine. They issued their own warning and statement here. I hope that Instyle gets back to me or Time corp does so they can too make a news statement about this dangerous scam.
I hope everyone I left a voice mail with gets back to me sooner then later. There are 12 days left for this obvious pick up. I don’t know if they super scout out their potential targets, and if they do I hope you’re reading this and know your plan has been blown. I hope this has maybe saved some people who are smart enough to call and find out from one of these companies (the rockefeller security guards, Instyle magazine, Time magazine, model mayhem itself, the RCMP, the rights organizations I have contacted) that they don’t go!
It’s now very scary that I was so eager to hop on a plane to get a little famous and to get money for my kids right before xmas that I would of knowingly gone with a driver “to the location/hotel” and been another missing mom.
Well screw that. I am going to tell this story to everyone any anyone that will listen in hopes to put even the tiniest dent into this million dollar black market.
I will continue with this story when more people get back to me.
Have you gotten a email like this? Don’t just delete it! Press Report! Did they give you dates, places and times like they did in mine? Report it even more! Call any of the many human trafficking tip lines
National Human Trafficking Hotline CONTACT THE HOTLINE
1-888-373-7888Call the RCMP, the police, let your friends know!
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)
- RCMP Scams page (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams-fraudes/index-eng.htm)
- Competition Bureau (http://competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/h_00122.html)
- OPP fraud prevention (http://www.opp.ca/ecms/index.php?id=133)
Just deleting it doesn’t make it go away. You maybe 1 of 1000 girls they’ve messages, maybe 50 answer and end up believing the lies.. so what you’re not #51 right? what about the other 50? Report it.
When reporting use this website trace Ip address to learn how to find their IP address in your email, its really easy! that way you can give it in your report and they can find where the emails are coming from.
UPDATE Nov 15 830 pm
the real Selene just got ahold of me. she has 100% confirmed that this is a scam! she is very sad that this is happening. Instyle magazine is aware and trying to do something about it.
I feel so bad for her that someone is a using her name.
UPDATE NOV 16 11am
So they emailed me back again! still assuring me that they have this weird work visa deal, but now I have to buy my makeup kits they want me to have from a makeup artist named Nancy Rand.. once again I went and googled her, she is a real person. Man these guys are good… I saw on her website that her email is different then what they have sent me, so I am now speaking with her via facebook to let her know and she is aware and has contacted the police as well. I have filed a report with the antifraudcenter.ca and the RCMP. I am talking to CBC today, netnewsledger.com(the site I write for), Vice Canada and more. I am fully dedicated to letting people know!
UPDATE July 2017: <- saying update in my head sounds like the guy from America’s Most Wanted
It’s been 10 months since I first wrote this article and almost every week I still get comments and emails from different mua’s all over the world getting this type of scam email!
In Thunder Bay there was another suspicious email that was sent out, but after contacting the name and magazine listed and I spoke with the editor she did infact hire someone from Thunder Bay! I explained to her why she may not of have had many responses at first and why I was calling on behalf of another artist. I just want to reiterate that you should always find the listed contact information for the “person” contacting you to make sure that they are not a scam.
UPDATE July 2018
Wow the response from this article is incredible! I have had over 100+ other mua’s from all over the world contact me about this and there are 2 trends I started really noticing.
- Emails coming from a gmail, hotmail accounts. Using Instyle as an example when you go to their “contact us” section of the website you will notice all editors and other emails are ____@timeinc.com
- the offices listed are always from New York no matter what the location of the shoot is (even in Europe.. which come on we all know NY Vogue wouldn’t be handling that).
- the biggest of them all are these “here is my press pass/my work badge” they try to send to make it seem more legit. Here are 2 different ones that readers have sent to me
Funny how its a different business but the same press pass that doesn’t have either companies logos on it. and one is a picture from a red carpet event and the other is a selfie…terrible.
Key things to also look for: style, formatting and logos. When you own a publishing company and hire 100s of graphic designers: all your work stationary and correspondence would have the current logo and possibly style to it….or at least not look like something that would come with a version of windows 98 word.
Sweet Cherry Spa 
OMG, MY FUCKING GOD. I am in the boat as you girl, I received the same email as you and thank god I had the luck and the brain to figure this shit out before anything terrible could have happened to me. I was soooo excited about this makeup gig too, and had the same thoughts as you in the beginning and discarded all information that was poiting out that it was a fraud. I nearly gave out that 500.00US deposit fee, which is 740.00CAD btw, due to my want to making it happen, BUT I am so glad I came to my senses and that you wrote this. I notified Selene Milano the actualy Instyle Editor and confirmed and told me that it isn’t her.
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Omg that’s nuts so glad you didn’t send the money! Report this too so they can maybe catch these guys!
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This is horrific!! Thank you for this! I got the same email from People magazine 😭Thank you for the numbers I will call and report it today! Maybe I should act as if I don’t know and se if I can get a time and place 😢😢😢this is terrifying and horrible! I have no words! 😔
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I got this same exact message except they were using the name “LAURA BROWN” last week, but mine was NOT an email but TEXT message and i looked up the phone number as I always do with unknown phone numbers and sure enough its some Hispanic guy, not Laura Brown at all!
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I just received the same email today. I googled the signature at the end of the email and the first page to show was yours. Thank you.
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Oh I’m so happy this is getting out there!!!
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This is really terrifying. I received the same email. I will be report on this to the FBI as well as other government agencies for human trafficking. Thank you so much for helping us all
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I’m so glad to hear the more people report the better!
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I received the exact same email. I feel really stupid because I actually sent money (thank GOD I was able to cancel the transaction). The people in the emails are now starting to get very aggressive with me because I sent them a “fake receipt”. So scary!
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Omg!!! Save everything call whatever police you can fbi/rcmp and report it. See if they can track the ip address or see if you can find someone who can
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I received the same email. I am a freelance Artist & presently contracted with the proteam for an International Makeup Brand. The payment & arrangements were of industry standard but I too investigate offers, the background of sources & info seeking to Verify the validity of aws offer. Unfortunately we live amongst a society where people all ages are abducted, sold to brothels, exploited, abused & left for dead. Lack of investigation, forethought & verification make easy victims for predators. Thank you for your attention and regard to raise awareness.
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Fuck! I received a similar email from “Jacqueline Fields” of “People Magazin”.
I was almost about to fly from Germany to New Orleans until they wanted me to send them money for the flight so the that “welfare” could book it and coordinate the different makeup artists from Germany to be in one plane and get picked up. Then I thought well this does not seem to make sense anymore and now I found this. Fuck.. I am so glad nothing has happened yet.
Thank you for putting it out. I will also give my best to spread the word.
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I got the same email a few days ago, same here I was almost ready to hop on a plane and then thought – wait a minute where am I going, who and what is waiting forme there??? Terrifying! I am so glad the word is out. I am reporting this today!
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same thing happen to me
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I’m a MUA based in Vancouver, BC and received the exact same email today, except they’re using Beauty Editor Jacqueline Fields from People Magazine (a legit person in the company). They even used the editor’s nickname to sign off the email! I was tempted to reply back but then thought about it:
1) I’m in Vancouver, why source from here when it’s time and cost efficient to look for a MUA in the states within the cities needed
2) There’s barely anything on my Model Mayhem profile, how does one know what my work is actually like
3) Who spells their own name wrong in a professional email address
After considering those points, I couldn’t find Jacqueline Fields on Model Mayhem and then came across this article. Grateful you have this up with all the scam info. I’ll be trying to contact Jacqueline directly to let her know and then report this where ever I can.
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I received the same email so so sad what lengths people go to
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this happened to me as well I have posted it on my Instagram as I also want to create aware awareness people magazine contacted me trying to fly me out. I have contacted the human trafficking hotline as well as trying to spread this like wildfire. @amrihearts
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I have received the exact same email… I’m so glad I found this post. I was supposedly contacted my vogue magazine and I thought OMG! YES! But soon realised like you why would they hire someone from the uk for a job in the US… thankyou so much if it wasn’t for this post and others commenting not sure what I would of done
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Was it by Jenna Rennert?.. I just got an email today too from Vogue! Wtf is going on?
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Holy fudge, Thank you for this post! I got the exact same email about a week ago, from Vogue..would you be so kind to contact me on how I can help to get a stop to this, report it or something
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I’ve had the same email but from Kate Foster at Seventeen Magazine. I was so excited and emailed back, when I received the second email stating everything they were offering me I was totally confused at that point and thought this is too good to be true, because I live in the UK and they were wanting to fly me out to Las Vegas… Then I found this article and it shocked me, I’ve reported the email address to gmail to hopefully get it taken down, I have also messaged the real Kate Foster to inform her that someone is impersonating her and I’ve emailed Seventeen Magazine. I was very freaked out thinking this is human trafficking, however reading the comments maybe it is a money scam (or both?) But still very scary because many vulnerable people will believe this and just go ahead with it, I’m glad that I searched into this and went no further! Thanks for this article, it is so useful and truly helped a lot with this situation.
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Yup just got the same email yesterday from “Kate Foster” at “Seventeen”. I will try to report it as best I can! Very scary but I had a gut feeling it wasn’t legit
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Hi,
My name is Zahava and I am an international Makeup Artist. Originally from the US and now doing some work in the Canadian Rockies. I joined model mayhem while looking for models for my upcoming styled shoot. I recently received the same exact email from a Katebfoster1@gmail.com from seventeen magazine. These people really made the letter seem legit. I thought being from the states maybe our paths crossed somewhere and they saw my work. Thanks to this blog post I took a second look and contacted seventeen and found out it was indeed a scam. You saved me from giving out valuable info or worse. I can’t thank you enough for that.
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You are so welcome! i’m just happy that you guys are seeing this and not getting hurt or worse 🙂
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Hi there, thanks to your blog, I can confirm my scam same as above girls, emails from Kate Foster Seventeen Mag for pic shoot in Las Vegas… I’m base in Sydney Australia! so it was like??? in the beginning. They have not asked me sending money over yet. Phew!
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The exact same happened to me, I’m a makeup artist based in London. I received emails from Kate Foster [ msfosterkatie@gmail.com ] about a shoot for Seventeen Magazine in Las Vegas. I began to realize it was a scam when she asked me to email a woman called Lucy Peters [ lucypetersaesthetics@gmail.com ] saying there was certain makeup every makeup artist needed on the day of the shoot… I did email her about this, although very confused, and in her e-mail she wrote “You are required to pay a commitment fee of $1,000 to begin the ordering process of your kits” to which I realized it was a total scam. The e-mails seem very legit, and event “Kate Foster” having a LinkedIn page and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/katebfoster/ / @katebfoster made it all seem real, but knew something was up when they were trying to get a makeup artist to buy a makeup kit, although any freelance makeup artist already has a full kit haha!?…
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I know right?
I either have a full kit or if you are a large style magazine that has 1000s of dollars spent by companies like revlon and cover girl to place adds, youd think they would provide everything they wanted you to use.
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I just received the same email, but the ” shoots in Vegas”. When I typed in the email, your page popped up. And thank you soooooo much! This is such a scary feeling!! I knew it was too good to be true. And that’s why you always do research!
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I got the same email from Kate Foster, too. Im glad we industry colleagues are all looking out for each othet. Great post. I’m posting this all over my social media.
Goid job doing your homework!!
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I own a hair and makeup business in Austin TX. for brides. Just received one for Elle. Researching it for scams I saw your post. Thanks.. I’m pasting it here. I too saw some name legitness but glad I searched on! Beware of it..
Hello, I’m Julie Schott, we are hiring makeup artist for the November edition of Elle Magazine. I came across your profile on theknot.com/Instagram while scouting for talents that will suit the case and we were able to go through your previous works. We quite believe you will be able to provide an exceptional and professional service on the days of our shooting.Send us an email confirming your interest or with your resume at (recruitment.ellemagazine@gmail.com)
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Got the same email from glamour magazine!
All gmail accounts
Jennifer Mulrow posing as Asst beauty editor matches the glamour mag credit name
Vegas job
This is a total global scam
I will report!
Thank you!
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Omgosh I got the exact same email by Jennifer Mulrow just now and thought something was fishy. So I researched and found this page!! I’m so glad that I researched! This is crazy and scary! Here is the message:
“Hi,
Glamour Magazine is hiring makeup artists for her January, 2018 Edition. I came across your profile on makeup artists directory while scouting for talents that will suit the case and we were able to go through your previous works via your social media/website. We believe you would be able to provide an exceptional and professional service on the day of our shoot. I would be glad working with you if you are looking to expand your portfolio, working with Glamour is just right. You would be meeting new photographers, directors, studio manager and producers from California and New York. You would also be working with models from Las Vegas.
Do reply if you are interested and I will give you further details.
Kind Regards,
Jennifer Mulrow
Assistant Beauty Editor
Glamour Magazine
4, Times Sq. #C1b, New York, NY 10036-6518
Confidentiality Statement
The information contained in this communication is confidential and intended only for the use of the recipient named above, and may be legally privileged and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please resend it to the sender and delete the original message and copy of it from your computer system. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to our official business should be understood as neither given nor endorsed by this company. This transmission is not a digital or electronic signature and cannot be used to form, document, or authenticate a contract. We accept no liability arising in connection with this transmission.”
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got the exact same one literally last friday!! so scary..i’m so glad i did my research..
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I received a similar email yesterday for a job offer in Vegas
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Just a heads up as well, usually if they are legitimate they will have a corporate email address (personsname@companyname.com). If it’s a gmail, instantly do the research.
Thank you for posting this article! It’ll keep me wary and safe in a new industry.
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I got the same email as the Glamour one!! Now that I know it’s a fake I’m trying to lead them on as much as I can and see if I can get some more info or something. It seems like the scam is getting money for the ‘makeup kit’. Thanks for writing this post! More people need to see this and know that it’s a fake so they don’t lose money.
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thank you so much for this. I just received this last friday.
Literally was so excited, but a part of me was really wanting to make sure it was legit because it seemed a little too good to be true. and i’m soooo glad i did my research and came across this!!
i think i just got my life saved….and to make it even more suspenseful to the situation, i just had a baby two months ago… no way in hell i’m going to let these people scam me!!!!! seriously, thank you so much for this. just what i needed for proof. ❤
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I’ve just received this and I was so grateful to have stumbled across your website! Thank God I did, if not I would’ve stupidly believed this 🙂
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Geeze, so freaked out! Over the years I’ve received numerous texts or emails for gigs but this sounded too good to be true.
I received a text yesterday from (262) 648-2147, looks like a Wisconsin number and I live in Santa Barbara , CA.
“Hello, I’m Lauren Brown, we are hiring makeup artist for the December edition of Instyle Magazine. I came across your profile on mandy.com while scouting for talents that will suit the case and we were able to go through your previous works. We quite believe you will be able to provide an exceptional and professional service on the days of our shooting. Send us an email confirming your interest or with your resume at (recruitment.instylemagazine1@gmail.com). Kind Regards, Lauren Brown”
I was extremely excited at first but rarely get work off of Mandy.com so I googled Lauren Brown. Hmm, there’s a “Laura Brown” who is the editor-in-chief, why would she say her name is Lauren then? She also has about 150k followers on Instagram so it’s highly likely she has the a pretty large inner circle and resources to find a plethora of muas and not use mandy.com. Ughh, but I thought, iIt wouldn’t hurt if I sent my resume to the email address in the text just in case it is real”. I sent it over last night a received today, “Hello, I would be glad working with you if you’re looking to expand your portfolio, working with InStyle is just right. You’ll be meeting new photographers, directors, studio manager and producers from California and New York. You’ll also be working with models from Louisiana.
Company Profile: Along with advertising, the magazine offers articles about beauty, fashion, home, entertaining, charitable endeavors and celebrity lifestyles. Its editor-in-chief is Laura Brown, and its publisher is Kevin Martinez. After originating in the United States, InStyle has expanded its brand and as of 2012 is distributed as international editions in about 16 countries including Australia, the UK, Germany, Brazil, Greece, South Korea, Spain, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Romania, and Russia.
The magazine features celebrities who open their homes to be featured.MUA Responsibilities:You apply make-up, apply products and use specialized techniques to create specific designs.
accompany Models onto set, and stand by during their scenes, touching up make-up between takes, and ensuring that continuity notes are maintained using photographs.
Have good communication and diplomacy skills
provide us with design specifications.
Be able to cope with stress, keeping a positive attitude
Be physically fit to cope with many hours of standing or bending over Actors.
Be tactful, sensitive, patient, and able to put people at their ease.
Be flexible and good at creative problem solving
Have a keen eye for detail to oversee continuity.
Be familiar with both period Make-up, and contemporary looks
Be able understand the overall look of the production and re-create it
Have a good eye for color
Have your own make-up kit
Have excellent organizational skills
Have good presentation skills
Be able to work effectively as part of a team
Be able to work under pressure to external and departmental deadlines. Understand relevant Health and Safety laws and procedures. Pay:You will be paid $450/day which will amount to $1350 for the 3 days.Note: The production will be done in New Orleans, LA on 11-14-2017 to 11-16-2017 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel: 921 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70112. Both travel/hotel expenses will be covered by the company.
Instruction: If you are available and interested in accepting this position then respond with your recent contact information such as your full name, address (to include city, state and zip code) and cell number. Laura Brown”
Ok, so her name IS Lauren Brown now and she doesn’t have a company signature or email?
SO, glad I found this post! These sick people are using a lot of the same verbage I see from other comments! Reporting for sure. Stay safe everyone.
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Hi everyone I got the same email they were ready to pay me 50% and sending me to LA everything looks so professional I did not sense it right and why all of a sudden anyone will pick us wherein getting into the agency is not easy task and found out that this is just a scam I researched everything next day . Be careful people and create awareness in your makeup group and all your MUA friends. stay safe.
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I got the same exact email today ,and I’m a hairstylist. I figured I’d do research and thankfully came across this article. It’s so sad and messed up that these are scams, from the looks of these comments theyve been doing this for years. It really needs to stop ! These emails seem so legit, I myself almost fell for it smh.
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my daughter just got this exact email except it was for January 2018. They sent her a fake check for 1908.00 which she did not cash thank god. because the [ police said they would have cleaned out her checking account.
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I just received the same exact email but for hairstylist.
This was so sad as there are so many of us working so hard to make our dreams come true and I was crazily excited. I had a feeling from the beginning but decided to play it out a bit. All my friends said it sounded legit but something to me was weird. That when I googled instyle job offer scam to see if its happened before. So glad I came across your link. But still gutted about this scam. They’ve sent me contracts and everything but haven’t asked for personal info yet… this is definitely a good scam that could fool a lot of people.
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Same! Different editor name though. It didn’t sound like US English to me. The email was a Gmail account. Didn’t trust it & Google & found this article. Scary to think human trafficking!!!!! Oh God I hope not! I did not respond to the email & will be reporting this to Google. Thanks for sharing!!
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Hi. I just got the same email from Instyle Magazine. I live in Baltimore, and they said that I would meet people from NY and LA, and Models from LA.
They saw my work on FB and they thought that my work was voodoo them. The email was sent by:
Marianne Mychaskiw
Associate Beauty Editor
InStyle Magazine
225 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281
& this is the e-mail : mychaskiwmarianne@gmail.com
When I went to copy the e-mail address to this note, her profile picture came up on my Google account, and it’s the picture of the real Marianne Mychaski.
Now, this e-mail was sent to me at 5:30 pm. Which was odd to ke as to why they would e-mail anyone that late. Second, Even though the address is of the Instyle Magazine, there is no floor #. And there is no phone number on her contact information.
Thank you for writing this. It seems like they are targeting Freelance Makeup Artists, knowing that this will be a huge opportunity for us.
I will do my best to get this info out to everyone that I know of!
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Hi. I just got the same email from Instyle Magazine. I live in Baltimore, and they said that I would meet people from NY and LA, and Models from LA.
They saw my work on FB and they thought that my work was good for them. The email was sent by:
Marianne Mychaskiw
Associate Beauty Editor
InStyle Magazine
225 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281
& this is the e-mail : mychaskiwmarianne@gmail.com
When I went to copy the e-mail address to this note, her profile picture came up on my Google account, and it’s the picture of the real Marianne Mychaski.
Now, this e-mail was sent to me at 5:30 pm. Which was odd to me because why would they e-mail anyone that late. Second, Even though the address is of the Instyle Magazine, there is no floor #. And there is no phone number on her contact information.
Thank you for writing this. It seems like they are targeting Freelance Makeup Artists, knowing that this will be a huge opportunity for us.
I will do my best to get this info out to everyone that I know of!
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I’m a MUA located in New Orleans. I just received the same exact email from Instyle magazine wanting to fly me to LA. I was super excited but also questioned the gmail account as well as no phone number. I called InStyle magazine but it leads you to their subscription line.
Now the key is, how can this be stopped?!
Thank you so much for the info! This is scary!
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here is contact for someone in la if you want to let them know:
LOS ANGELES
Nancy Hiroyasu
Integrated Director
11766 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1700
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310.268.7829
310.268.7207 Fax
Nancy_Hiroyasu@timeinc.com
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I’m in shock and glad I followed my gut feeling and searched for instyle scams, I’m a hairstylist and got the same email, they sent me an agreement but haven’t signed yet cause I was confused on the terms, thank you so much for speaking out, I’m from San Diego and freaking out since they know my Home address, where can I report this to?
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They have your home address? Thats weird… Did you try contacting the person or company they are claiming to be to doubble check? If they say its fake you can call your state department that deals with idenity theft you can also call your police local, state or the fbi if you want aswell
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Omg this is happening to me now I’m so sad I’m glad I did the research!
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I just received this fake email from Kate Foster at Seventeen Magazine today. There was no excitement, I knew it was a scam immediately, but I’m playing along to see what they ask me to do. So not cool.
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The trafficking hotline said I need more proof. I can’t get in touch with instyle and I can’t.
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How far did you get with talking to the scammers? Instyle is hard to getahold of it took me a day or 2 of trying all ways to get intouch with the people
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I need your help. They want to fly me out next week.
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if you want to make sure here is a list of contacts for instyle that I could find:
http://www.instyle.com/promo/mediakit-v2/contacts_is.html
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I replied back to the email and asked for a contract and a phone number to reach them for questions. The phone number lead to a voiced mail. The contract stated I needed to send $2037 for a kit. I told them I needed my attorney to review it. I think they want my account info. Not playing into it. Just wanted to see what the response would be
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Yup it seems more money and idenitiy theft
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I just got the email too for InStyle Mag with the correct beauty editors name! So scary
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Thanks so much for this!!! I also received an email from them… I can’t imagine what would have happened to me if I had gotten on that plane… thanks so much
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My sister recived today this Super mega offer from :
Marianne Mychaskiw
Associate Beauty Editor
InStyle Magazine
225 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281
(646) 513-9075
And they promessed her 2k $ and invated to Los angeles on 12/16/2017 for fotoshoot.
I’ve checked the adress from the e-mail and found WTC in NY.
I’t is too good to be real ))
the IP adress from which we recieved this scam mail : 209.85.220.41
And here the TEXT from E-mail :
ear Anna,
InStyle Magazine is hiring makeup artists for her March, 2018 Edition. We came across your contact via your Facebook page while scouting for talents that will suit the case. We believe you would be able to provide an exceptional and professional service on the day of our shoot. I would be glad working with you if you are looking to expand your portfolio, working with InStyle is just right. You would be meeting new photographers, directors, studio manager and producers from California and New York. You would also be working with models from Los Angeles.
Do reply if you are interested and I will give you further details.
Kind Regards,
Marianne Mychaskiw
Associate Beauty Editor
InStyle Magazine
225 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281
(646) 513-9075
And BLA BLA BLA
When we asked the VTA or registration number of their company we didn’t recieved any reply
and also they don’t answer to phone
Best regards
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Happened to me to yesterday…
LUCKULY I didn’t sent them any money! BUT they have both mine and my friends passport number.
I don’t know what to think or say.. I’m fucking choked..
This is not a joke. I cant imagine what has happened to the girls that did actually show up.
One thing I know is that im reporting this, spreading the word, and making this public.
I live in Denmark btw,
”
Dear Rosaline,
InStyle Magazine is hiring makeup artists for its March, 2018 Edition. We came across your contact via your Facebook page while scouting for talents that will suit the case. We believe you would be able to provide an exceptional and professional service on the day of our shoot. I would be glad working with you if you are looking to expand your portfolio, working with InStyle is just right. You would be meeting new photographers, directors, studio manager and producers from California and New York. You would also be working with models from Los Angeles.
Do reply if you are interested and I will give you further details.
Kind Regards,
Marianne Mychaskiw
Associate Beauty Editor
InStyle Magazine
225 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281″
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Omg!! Contact your government agency about your passport numbers!! So glad youre safe though
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I got same ones Marianne from Instyle.
I reported to human trafficking. Here is covasetion Marianne and Lucy ( instyle magazine vender)
It’s good to know you are fully willing to be a part of our team for the next issue of InStyle Magazine shoot. The shoot is a one day event and I will forward you the mood board at a later time so you can be fully prepared for the shoot. We are having 12 models altogether in which you would be allocated 3 models to work on. The looks are of 3 different looks and the theme of the shoot is “The Voux”.
Your travel expenses would be covered by us, so for your round trip e-ticket to be processed, we require your full name as it appears on your valid government issued ID, your date of birth and the airport closest to you at which you would love to depart from. You are expected to be in Los Angeles a day prior to the shoot while we could schedule your return for the night of the shoot or the following morning, depending on your preference. Kindly specify your preference on your return. We have also made transportation arrangements to convey every members to and fro the airport, hotel and venue of the shoot. You shall be provided with two nights accommodation if you wish to leave the following morning of the shoot.
Listed below are the materials you would be needing for the upcoming shoot.
Professional Makeup Kit – 101 – Light.
Professional Makeup Kit – 201 – Medium.
Professional Makeup Kit – 301 – Dark.
InStyle has specialist vendors which are usually patronized for the purchase of makeup products as we would not like to face the challenge we had during our last shoot as some of the makeup artist we hired then did not have all the necessary kits to be used on our different skin type models. Therefore, the kits needed would be provided. Please be informed that it is the company’s policy that every makeup artists that would be working with us on this upcoming shoot gets in touch with our specialist vendor for the purchase of the necessary kits irrespective of whatever makeup kits they already own while the funds for the purchase is being released to every artist.
Lucy Peters is a model agent and our makeup specialist vendor. Contact her for the availability and price of these kits together with any other product you might be needing and give me a feed back of the quotation. Her contact is lucypetersaesthetics@gmail.com
Ensure you indicate that it is for InStyle Magazine shoot as you make the inquiry and do get back to me as soon as you receive a response from her.
NB: Funds will be made available to you for the purchase of the materials. You will also receive credit for your service in the magazine. There is a contract to this job offer which would be forwarded to you soon as it has to state the correspondence between you and our specialist vendor, Lucy.
I look forward to having a professional working relationship with you.
Kind Regards,
Here is from Lucy
Thank you for reaching out. The products for the upcoming shoot for InStyle magazine are readily available and these are the prices they are currently sold for;
Pro Makeup Kit – 101 – Light – $679.00
Pro Makeup Kit – 201 – Medium – $679.00
Pro Makeup Kit – 301 – Dark – $679.00
These kits are of different brands like MAC, NYX, Avon, Burt’s Bees, Maybelline, Estee Lauder and so on and it contains every items you would be needing for the upcoming shoot for InStyle. The above quote gives a total of $2,037.
You are required to pay a commitment fee of $1,000 to begin the ordering process of your kits as this period seem to be a peak period for us due to high rate of clients ordering for our products and we wouldn’t like to disappoint any of InStyle’s personnel due to limited time to the shoot. These kits would be shipped to your address before the shoot date.
You will deduct this commitment fee you are to pay out of pocket from the total amount when you have the funds released to you by InStyle.
Thank you!
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I received the same email, but for Harper’s BAZAAR & was too told to contact Lucy Peters for the makeup kits & pay a commitment fee of $500.
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My sister received the same e-mail as you except it was supposedly from Marianne Mychaskiw, the Associate Beauty Editor at InStyle. I wanted to thank you for putting your story online as this was the only story I came across when searching for an Instyle scam.
I hope you don’t mind, I will be releasing an article on HerCampus.com/mcgill (an online magazine I write for) about the e-mail my sister received, and have made reference to your blog post.
Please contact me and I can send you what I have written, which will be published likely on Tuesday December 5th, 2017. If you have any concerns, or are uncomfortable with being referenced I can most definitely remove it from the article.
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Id love to see your article! The more we are made aware and the more crediabilty from people like us who do our research the more help there is. I also used my article to get a interview with cbc and offered the story to vice news aswell
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E-mail me at claire-59@hotmail.com and I can send it along! It will be published sometime tomorrow.
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Oh my gosh! I’m so glad I’ve just read your article after receiving exactly the same email I’ve come online to do my research! The email was pretty much word for word except it was supposedly from “Jennifer Mulrow” at “Glamour Magazine” in the US… I’m a UK based Mua it all sounded far too good to be true! Thank you so much for taking the time out to write this article… I can see how some may fall for it as it’s so convincing! Keep up the good posts!
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Ahhh damn man. Such a bummer. I got one too for a hair stylist for instyle magazine. Too good to be true clues me in. As well as saying her name was Laura brown. Laura brown is the editor in chief of the magazine. No way she’s scouting hair stylists! So glad I found this!!!
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Yep. Thanks for writing this! Thank goodness you did your due diligence. My first clue in my scammer was the email address. It’s a Gmail email and not with the publication, to me, that’s a dead giveaway.
Just got this text ;
“Hello, I’m Laura Brown, we are hiring hair stylist for the February edition of InStyle Magazine. I came across your profile online while scouting for talents that will suit the case and we were able go through your previous works. We quite believe you will be able to provide an exceptional and professional service on the day of our shoot. Email me with your resume or an email confirming your interest at (recruitment.instylemagazine10@gmail.com).. Kind Regards,. Laura Brown”
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Thank you for getting this out to the public. My husband got the same email yesterday. I knew something was up because they were using a gmail address. Who does that in a professional world?
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I just got an email this morning…wow! I was happy but something seemed off so I Google and that’s when I found your post. It’s so sad people do this awful thing…
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Hi! I’m working on a story for Cosmo.com about this email hack. Would you be comfortable speaking about your experience with this? If so, please let me know asap as I’m working on a tight deadline. Thank you! xo Andrea Arterbery
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I just received an email claiming I was getting a position to do hair for a shoot for Instyle. I realized it was a scam when they asked if I had a checking account. a hecking
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Hello, I am a MUA from Ottawa Ontario, and I also received this e-mail. The e-mail was for a shoot with Glamour Magazine. Thank you for sharing!
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Pingback: Glamour Scam – Makeup by Mashaal
I just woke up to a TEXT this
Morning from Laura Brown at In Style to
Do hair for the March issue. I was half asleep and woke up so quickly to excitement and confusion. As everyone else on here states, I googled her and her name and position At the company sounded legit. Then I Typed scam into the google bar and this forum popped up, thankfully. Anyone with info on who I should report this to first or what first steps I should make would be very helpful, I’ve never been in a position like this.
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I received a text message from Laura Brown the lead fashion journalist at Instyle. A little sceptical as a traveling hairstylist I googled her name yep she exists. I googled the email and wondered why a major magazine editor would have a gmail account but what really got me was you article and ending of the email “Kind Regards”. It was exactly the same . Thanks for this blog really saved the day ❤.
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Wow this is so terrible. I was contacted by “Jenna Rennert” from Vogue magazine, giving a date and time and basically everything else you wrote. Thank god you posted this. I’m loterally in shock.
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I just did too! This is CRAZY. I hope they catch the person behind this!
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