A man posing as a fake modeling agent has tricked hundreds of young girls from around the globe into sending him nude images of themselves, The Mirror reports. The man, who authorities are identifying as E. Ciftci, posed as an agent from prestigious modeling agencies and promised paid jobs. Cifti would require the victims to participate in fake casting sessions over Skype, where he would tell them they needed to undress.
Ciftci took his sick act even further by blackmailing the women once he had their images. He would tell them that he would send their nude photos to co-workers, family members, and friends if they refused to participate in virtual sex.
The man was finally caught after the group Managers and Models Association (MAMA) alerted authorities of the sexploitation scheme, which may have been one of the world's biggest of its kind. It took the FBI, the National Crime Agency and Interpol three years to identify and catch the suspect, who was arrested in Turkey.
Ciftci would sometimes pretend to be the founder of VIVA Model Management. "It's a frightening situation and it happens more than you think, the agency's director, Natalie Hand, told The Mirror.
Unfortunately, Hand is correct. There are multiple other occasions of men masquerading as modeling agencies and agents to deceive young girls, including cases in Arizona that involved almost 100 women and Ireland where a man tricked his friend into sending him naked photos. An extremely disturbing case involved a man in Pennsylvania who would contact very young girl's mother under the guise of a modeling agent and ask for "bath time" photos of the child.
To prevent this from happening in the future, follow Hand's advice: "If they say they are from a company, call up and make sure they can verify the information."
