Active Male Models Don't be scammed by Active Male Models or its owner, Russell Claxon Louisville, Kentucky

Make sure to read the other RipOffReports on ActiveMaleModels!  I have made a blog about my experiences with Active Male Models / Models Today and Russell Claxon.  Here is the text of that blog if it should be removed for any reason:

Before I begin, you should know that Russell Claxon / Active Male Models uses the following aliases on the Internet:

AOL Instant Messenger:  guy4you2know1
AOL Instant Messenger:  sexy502beth (female decoy profile)
AOL Instant Messenger:  KYMODELGUY
Skype:  KYMODELGUY
Gay.com:  KYMODELGUY
Gay.com:  KYMODELGUY2
Myspace:  Russ David (The Model Seeker), Profile ID 541239376  (A simple Google search of this information reveals that he is friends with many young men.)

If you have been contacted by ANY of the above parties, keep a record!

Also before I tell you my story, let me share with you some information on the company and its owner. Just Google his name, or his companies' names, and you'll come up with all of this stuff on your own. Think of this here as a clearinghouse with commentary. :) A judge in Kentucky summed it up best: "You've done nothing to show me you're running a legitimate business. I think you're running a scam." But it might be much more sinister than that, I'm afraid.

OWNER:

RUSSELL CLAXON (verified with the Kentucky Secretary of State)

Age 41, graying hair, morbidly obese, about 5'10"


CLAXON'S CRIMINAL HISTORY (verified by Kentucky PUBLIC records):

Promotion of Male Prostitution (FELONY)

Theft by Deception

Promoting Sexual Performance by a Minor (indicted but not convicted)


WORDS CLAXON LIKES TO USE WHEN ANGRY:

scam
harassment
stalking
slander
legal action


COMPANIES OWNED BY CLAXON:

Active Male Models, LLC
Active Female Models
Models Today, LLC
MT Fitness, LLC


WEBSITES:

www.activemalemodels.com

www.Models-Today.com

http://www.activefemalemodels.com (Notice how there are no female models?)

http://modelstoday.freeservers.com/


MY STORY:

I'm a pretty smart guy. I even went to grad school -- a highly-respected one -- and got a Ph.D. Fortunately I'm older and wiser now, and have hopefully added experience to my knowledge which allows me to see through situations like the one I was in. But there was a time when I was down on my luck. I was vulnerable, I suppose, and I needed money. I wasn't thinking clearly. I was approached by someone on AOL Instant Messenger who called herself "sexy502beth." She said I had "the look" for modeling and wanted to put me in touch with her "agent," Russell Claxon. I corresponded with Russell for a bit, and he told me I should come to Louisville for him to take pictures of me and to sign me up for modeling. The fee? At the time, I believe it was $450. I didn't know at the time that it's unheard of to pay a fee for modeling and that legitimate modeling agencies rely on commissions from your work to make their money.  Oops.

Anyway, after talking to Russell, "Beth" signed back in and told me she would find it really exciting if I engaged in sexual acts with another male in front of my webcam, and also asked me for nude pictures of myself. Fortunately, I said NO to both.

Fast forward a few days later: I drove to Louisville and met with Russell at a McDonald's (yes, I should have known right then that I was being defrauded). Russell brought a young man with him and said that the young man had just come from working in New York and had made over $1,000 / hour. Then he pushed a contract in front of me, had me read it and sign it, and hand over a check for $450. Then we went to a Louisville park and he took photos of me. Those photos never made it to his website, and he never once found any sort of work for me. Furious, I demanded my
money back and threatened to report the incident to the Better Business Bureau. Russell said he had a paralegal agency who would sort me out if I caused trouble. I didn't relent, though. Ultimately, I just cut my losses and let it go.

My story seems to have ended a lot better than most, though. Fortunately for me, unfortunately for others. Check out these news stories from WHAS 11 in Louisville, where a reporter finally nailed Russell Claxon after a number of young men came forward with stories much more horrendous than my own:

http://www.whas11.com/news/modeling-investigation-67302242.html

http://www.whas11.com/news/iteam/WHAS11-Investigation-Modeling-agency--72010757.html

(You'll notice that the comments in defense of Claxon/AMM/MT, LLC are curiously similar. Could it be that the same person is writing them, including "sexy502beth"? I would think so.)

When I saw these stories, I was horrified. That could have been me. When I thought I had just been scammed for money, I was angry, but when I realized what Claxon could have originally planned for me, I felt absolutely violated. Now that I'm older, I can't imagine how these young men must feel, and it infuriates me that little to nothing has been done about it. When I learned that Russell had been doing this since God-knows-when, I was speechless.

Let me link you to a few blogs where Claxon allegedly contacted other young men online:

http://skylor.me/post/59918789/models-today-com

http://superpunkgohan.livejournal.com/7723.html
and comments:
http://superpunkgohan.livejournal.com/7723.html#comments


Claxon / AMM / MT, LLC absolutely despise the Better Business Bureau, and it's easy to see why:

http://www.la.bbb.org/GIReport.aspx?NewsID=286

http://centralohio.bbb.org/article/dont-get-taken-by-a-modeling-scam-22026

http://www.bbb.org/KY/business-reviews/modeling-advance-fee/active-male-models-llc-in-louisville-ky-159138092/

http://our.bbb.org/KY/Public/Reports/RR/Print.aspx?firm=6005497

http://www.examiner.com/news-you-can-use-in-national/scam-warning-child-modeling-agencies

... and so on. Apparently, Claxon and his "companies" made national news!


Don't feel threatened by Claxon or his "companies" when they threaten you with legal action. Stand your ground or ignore him altogether. And if anything has happened to you or your children because of him or his companies, you should keep a record of it and go to the police.

Stay safe!