Just like the title of this blog, Scams are real and they hurt. I’m tired of being scammed as an actor. You really have to watch out and this is my story: The past couple of weeks, I was lead to believe that I was conversing and auditioning for a real casting director of HBO MAX. Sent a stellar audition and even signed off on a role I was offered with a Zoom meeting all set up for this upcoming week. Now, I did my research and by the way this was from Backstage, I did my research and I was already skeptical from the beginning as I have been burnt from roles and opportunities in the past. It’s kind of like AI - you don’t know what’s real anymore and it hurts. Am I used to this by now and being scammed….yes to the point now where I don’t trust anyone. But I also feel like if I don’t take a chance, I could miss out on my big break. It’s heartbreaking and yes this is a setback. I am very fragile at this point. I try to research as much as I can with companies and making sure they’re legit, but sometimes that’s not enough.
Continuing on with the scam, all was good until the project said that I must be SAG-AFTRA and they had a rep that could help me with that. I was like ok, I get this, not a problem, until their so called rep e-mailed me and it looked legit, except for one thing, the email was sent from a .net and not .org. I had been researching SAG-AFTRA and all of their emails ended in .org so I decided to email them about a possible scam and someone got back to me right away, indeed it was. Next email I got from the fake company said I can pay my dues by PayPal, bank account or bit coin….bit coin…..absolutely not and that was a major red flag in red flag city as I know as well as anything else, dues should only be paid through SAG-AFTRA on their website or via phone. I’m no genius, but I know when it’s game over.
Since then, I have reported the people and emails to SAG-AFTRA as it was the correct thing to do. Not only did they pretend to be from SAG-AFTRA, but also stole the identity of a real casting director from HBO MAX and you should never, ever do that. They stole the identity and photo as well to make it look legit. That’s not right at all. Please do your research on anyone who reaches out to you to do any kind of acting. Also, know that you are not alone if you have ever been scammed. If you have, please comment down below.
I am posting some screenshots of when it all went south and the scam took place as well as the role I was offered. Again, I am heartbroken and would have loved to work on “Hacks” with Jean Smart as she has been an inspiration to me for a long time and is so funny. I really wish this wasn’t a scam. Again, left heartbroken and now less trusting.
And here’s the audition monologue I submitted and got great feedback on, which was probably full of shit, but hey as long as it’s in writing, it counts right!?! I feel as though I did a great job and was happy with the outcome.