Never Ending Casting SCAM Emma Armos Mitchy Heels Retainer fee paid for a casting opportunity Hollywood. Tried to charge the card again after fee taken. Scam discovered after ss# supplied. California

I was, recently, a member of website Casting360 and put in my information for an MTV reality show. I received an email which stated that I was chosen to be an extra for a pilot show filming in Hollywood on July 13th titled MTV Events. The pay would be $400-$500 depending on the director. Also, if I was cast as a model I could get paid $2000 per episode. There would be 22 episodes. The filming would take place at a location called Blackbird in Hollywood. 

All I would need to do is pay a retainer fee of $75 that would cover any costs in case I didn't show up. They claim that people don't follow through when they make the commitment so this was necessary. What did I know? I'm new to this industry. They also claimed that transportation and lodging would be accommodated and I could choose to either fly July 11th or July 12th and would safely return by the 15th. 

The $75 fee had to be paid by July 5th, but I was concerned about holiday closings, so I paid it on July 3rd. I then received another email stating that I could bring a guest too if they also wanted to pay $75. I did not, but I thought about it. On July 5th I responded to the second email that I was sent which requested personal information like my government name, social security #, flight preference, etc. 

After I responded to the email with all of my information I posted a comment on Casting360's site to let everyone know how excited I was for the opportunity, and that the site really does work. I immediately started receiving comments about how it's a scam, and that I shouldn't pay any retainer fee ever. I then went to the disclaimer at the bottom of their site on how to avoid scams, and this site, Never Ending Casting, was listed as a known scam. Yet, they are still allowed to post. 

I immediately called my bank and they told me that I would not be allowed to dispute a fraud charge until it posts and it was still pending. Saturday morning, July 6th, I checked again and it posted so I immediately called. The charge posted at close of business on Friday, July 5th, and yet there was another pending authorization charge on July 6th. Obviously they were trying to charge again, but I caught it in time. I immediately cancelled the card, opened a fraud investigation, and got a new card. 

After this I immediately panicked about providing my ss#. I contacted all the credit agencies and the FTC to put a  fraud alert under my ss#. Never Ending Casting had no idea that I was onto them. 

Monday, July 8th, I received an email that the location had been moved from Hollywood to New York City - conveniently near me now that they had my address. I called to get a refund, explain what I had discovered, dispute everything going on, and I received a complete run around. I was told that the second verification charge was "probably" because I was bringing a guest for another $75 fee, and yet I had never confirmed that. I called the studio they claim to have moved the filming to and realized this was just a big runaround. I also alerted the studio that a bad name was coming down on them as well for affiliation to a scam. 

Never Ending Casting told me that refunding the $75 was of no consequence to them since they didn't need the money, and yet would only refund it if I showed up to the new location on Saturday, July 13th in NYC. Bull. I told them my concerns about my ss# and Never Ending Casting claims that they had no use for that information, but it was for "them" - the casting directors who wanted to make sure a terrorist wasn't trying to enter the plane. The imaginary plane to Hollywood that was going to be switched regardless. 

SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM. 

Do not trust Never Ending Casting, Mitchy Heels, Emma Armos, or Casting360 for that matter. 

I was lucky enough to catch all of these things in time so that all I have to worry about is $75. I don't think everyone else is so lucky.