History: Modeling Agency, 1948, United States

In the United States, the Better Business Bureau registers complaints against agencies that conduct dishonest business practices and scams. Scam artists and untrustworthy agencies generally demand long-term contracts up front and use high-pressure tactics to con models into committing to high-commission percentages or signing over unnecessary rights.
• Examples
An example of a modeling scam is when an agency claims to have work but really what they are doing is trying to sell photoshoots and modeling courses to aspiring models. A legitimate agency should only make profit from agency commissions.
A highly-publicized scam was exposed in 2009, when a Louisville-based male modeling agency called "Models-Today, LLC," owned by a convicted felon named Russell Claxon was exposed as having never obtained any jobs for the models despite fees in the hundreds of dollars. Due to the unusually large number of consumer complaints filed against the business, including solicitation for gay male prostitution, this story was disseminated across the Better Business Bureau national networks and provides information on how to avoid such scams.