The reason I created this site and article is because hollywoodprofiles.com aka castingandtalent.com aka MovieForums.org ripped me off and I decided to investigate these guys and the further I would dig the more I realized this is a total scam committing interstate fraud!
HERE IS WHY:
1. They send spam email and have many complaints online regarding this illegal practice, here are just a few:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080404185220AA6dzs3
http://mycrapmail.blogspot.com/2008/03/casting-calls-in-your-area-anyobject.html
http://spamnation.info/go/domain/hollywoodprofiles.com
2. They do not disclose that the “risk free” trial will turn into a $49.95 charge after the 7 days. This is a screenshot from their payment page which does not clearly indicate that this is a membership and that you will be billed $49.95. You may not know this but by them not CLEARLY disclosing their fees they are clearly using deceptive business practices and bait & switch techniques, both of which are illegal.
FTC Guidelines for advertising this type of offer require that all terms and conditions of the offer, as well as cancellation instructions, be clearly and conspicuously displayed in at least 10 point type before asking for payment or obtaining the customer’s consent. Clearly hollywoodprofiles.com is in violation of FTC Guidelines, they do not disclose clearly at all!!
3. They do not have 6,000 9,000 Industry Professionals using their site like their ad claims, instead they steal castings from free sites and most of the auditions I contacted told me they never even heard of hollywoodprofiles before. This constitutes false advertising and Pinnacle along with Elon Cohan can be held liable for this fraudulent act.
4. The United States Casting Society (http://uscastingsociety.org) which rates hollywoodprofiles with an “AAA” rating is also owned by Ilan Cohan the owner of hollywoodprofiles.com. This is a clear conflict of interest and this company was created to lure and fool users into thinking this company is accredited in the industry.
http://whois.domaintools.com/uscastingsociety.org
5. They advertise jobs that do not exist when signing up. The show they have a number of jobs in places like Kansas, after you sign up you realize nothing is listed for that area.
6. They claim in their user guide that they invented online submission which is also a lie. Most talent sites I use including exploretalent.com had that first. They also claim to have a patent pending probably just another lie, all this company does is lies, cheats, & their main goal is to TAKE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY
7. Rip Off Reports – When you search google for “site:www.ripoffreport.com hollywoodprofiles” it will show you all the reports on hollywoodprofiles.com that are a stagerring 255 results all added within the last 3 months. Thats a huge number, I wonder how many have not complained they must have stolen $49.95 from thousands of actors and models.
8. BBB- The Better Business Bureau has rated them with a F and has this to say regarding hollywoodprofiles.com: “We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.”
HERE IS WHAT YOU DO TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK & DO YOUR PART TO SHUT THEIR DOORS FOR GOOD:
Hollwoodprofiles.com aka castingandtalent.com aka MovieForums.org is an illegal scam operation committing federal mail fraud by scamming unsuspecting job seekers, actors, models and movie extras. If you have been a victim of this scam you can report hollywoodprofiles.com aka castingandtalent.com aka MovieForums.org to:
****Call your credit card company or bank(VERY IMPORTANT), since this is a scam you can get all your money back. File a “chargeback” and give them a link to this website so they can see the findings of my investigation. You will surely get your money back and hopefully Visa & Mastercard will eventually ban these criminals.
1. Complaints – Call Mark Lambert, Deputy City Attorney, or Elizabeth Calles, Detective: (213) 978-8070
2. Attorney General
Texas
https://www.oag.state.tx.us/forms/cpd/form.php
California
http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL
New York
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/complaints/complaints.html
Florida
http://myfloridalegal.com/Contact.nsf/Contact?OpenForm&Section=Economic_Crimes
3. Contact http://ripoffreport.com and file a complaint. http://ripoffreport.com will accumulate these complaints and when there is enough of them a class action attorney will see this and file a class action against the owners of hollywoodprofiles.com which is Ilan Cohan and Pinnacle Systems which Ilan is hiding behind, at that point hopefully they will be able to pierce his corporation and hold him personally liable for the fraud he is committing.
4. Contact http://bbb.org and file a complaint. The media watches for high complaint volume and will eventually do an undercover report and expose these guys on TV.
5. Report them to the FBI, since this is interstate mail fraud this is also a federal matter which is handled by the FBI. To file a complaint with the internet crime complaint division of the FBI click here: http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/
6. Report them to their domain registrar which in this case is godaddy.com, here is a link to the page you need to report them if you have received spam from them : https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/spamreport/spamreport.asp
7. Repost this information on blogs and forums to help others before they are defrauded. If you have an extra $20 bucks you can even pay for google adwords with a link to this site, that would be sure to get this blog more attention and stop hollywoodprofiles.com from scamming others.
Shame on you Ilan Cohan and shame on you to all the staff at Pinnacle Systems. Please do the right thing and repost this in as many places as you can and also write comments about this below so it indexes well and do your part to stop these criminals!
Also if you work for Pinnacle Systems AKA Ilan Cohan, beware you are also liable for the fraud that is occurring and may be subject to jail time once the authorities are in your office investigating your practices. As an employee you to can do the right thing and post what you know and report your boss (Ilan Cohan) to the
California Attorney General (http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL)
and to the
FBI internet crime division: http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/
DO YOUR PART TO STOP THE HOLLYWOODPROFILES.COM SCAM
Thanks for the information about hollywoodprofiles.com, I have found it very useful and will report them as well, since those jokers at hollywoodprofiles.com did not give me my $49.95 back that they stole from me.
Also I don’t know if you know this but they also imply their site is secure by having a url of “secure.hollywoodprofiles.com” which clearly implies that it is secure, which is misleading people and giving them a false sense of security when giving their credit card information. So not only will you get scammed out of $49.95 from hollywoodprofiles.com but you may also get your credit card information stolen and then you are really screwed.
I hope the BBB, FTC, FBI or someone does something to stop Hollywoodprofiles.com
Comment by Jack Frost — June 26, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
uscastingsociety.org is a scam owned by hollywoodprofiles.com
Edit This
uscastingsociety.org is owned by the same owners as hollywoodprofiles.com aka MovieForums.org. The owners are Elan Cohen Of Pinnacle Systems. This sites purpose is to supposdly accredit talent sites in the industry, the problem is the only site they rate is the one the own hollywoodprofiles.com aka movieforums.org. This is clearly a deceptive practice meant to fool innocent actors and models into thinking that this is an industry accredited company when in fact this is just a scam.
Here is some new info I found they have a site called http://casting-talent.internetmarketingeducations.com and on there they gaurantee you a job and say they “are the only certified program for movie extras” that site links to http://castingandtalent.com which is also owned by Ilan Cohen of Pinnacle systems, here is the exact text:
Movie Extra Certification Program
This is the only certified program in the world for Movie Extras, and over 1,000 people world-wide have been certified through this program, now making the money of their dreams by doing simple Movie Extras work… for every type of company you can think of!
modeling and talent
This program has been raved about by many in the film industry, and has recently been rated the #1 program in America by the US Casting Society (USCastingSociety.org)…..one of the most trusted casting societies in the world. We are proud to say that we have recieved a AAA rating by them, their absolute highest rating.
To do so, you’ll get a master list of the companies that offer the highest pay for Movie Extra work.
And by enrolling in my certification program… you are GUARANTEED an immediate position as a Movie Extra.
WHAT A SCAM!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS????
Comment by stophollywoodprofiles — July 12, 2008 @ 8:42 am
Just an FYI, the only legit online casting services in Los Angeles are (in order of usefulness):
ActorsAccess.com
LAcasting.com
NowCasting.com (very few casting notices–but good resources for subscribers)
Backstage.com (not as many casting notices as the 1st two, but useful articles & a great message board)
That’s it.
Comment by LA working actor — July 12, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
Unfortunately most of these sites are b.s. It sucks that hungry actors get pulled into these because they can’t find much out there. I signed up for a website, but it never had any actual casting calls I could go to. I live in Kansas City and most of them were for L.A. or anywhere but where I live. Thanks for posting this. Hopefully, it will stop these sites from giving out false hope and scamming people.
Comment by Tom — July 12, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
Joey Lawrence & Xzibit Work With Scam
So now actor Joey Lawrence & rapper Xzibit are doing commercials for hollywoodprofiles.com??? Check it out : http://secure.hollywoodprofiles.com . I can’t believe these guys didn’t google the word “hollywoodprofiles scam” before signing a deal that will probably have a huge negative impact on their future projects and associations. One thing thats good is the media will now be interested to know that Joey Lawrence and Xzibit are part of a huge nationwide scam! Please forward the link to my blog to all media outlets, I am sure they would love a story like this.
Here is a link to my main page: http://stophollywoodprofiles.wordpress.com
Comment by stophollywoodprofiles — July 12, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
Thanks for doing this!!!! REally appreciated that you spent the time. Its clearly a scam and makes me sad that poor struggling actors that really need work have to deal with crap like this.
Comment by C Moore — July 12, 2008 @ 9:48 pm
I also got scamed but luckily I watched closely and noticed after I cancelled my membership with them they continued to debit my checking acct. 5 more times, because I USED MY DEBIT CARD THE BANK HELP ME WITH MY SITUATION AND I RECEIVED ALL MY MONEY BACK BUT THEY HOLLYWOODPROFILE tried everthing to tell me I did not cancel, so I told them to listen to the recording they claim they tape their conversations.AND STILL THEY FOUGHT ME BUT I FINALLY WON VERY PERSISTENT!!!
Comment by Deb Weber — July 13, 2008 @ 5:39 am
BEWARE…..Hollywood PROFILES This is truly a scam, registration only $1.95 YA RIGHT they dont tell you they will also charge you 9.99. Then days later they charge your account $49.95. Dont even bother calling hollywood profiles 800 number you wont get through, call your bank instead and explain to them, you will get your money back. SHAME ON YOU HOLLYWOOD PROFILES
Comment by christina bastias — July 13, 2008 @ 5:52 am
Thank you for posting that info about Hollywood Profiles.. I got scammed by them too.
I’ve canceled with them, and hope they don’t still try to pull $50 out of my acct at the end of the month. I do have a email from them stating that my account has been closed.
They never disclosed to me that there monthly fee was $49.95…
I’ve canceled with them and explore talent.. I was new to the area, and was suckered in..
Thanks again,
Tony
Is it cool if I post your message on the blog minus your email address?
Tony Koester
to me
yes you may, but I was wrong, I don’t have an email from them, but I think they gave me a confirmation number.. I’m not at my home computer / desk, but I’m sure I wrote one down..
Maybe you can answer my question.. I used my debit card.. do I still have a chance at getting any money back?? Just wondering.. I’ve pretty much chalked it up to experience..
I’m only using LA Casting now.. Please tell me they’re not a rip off too!
Thanks,
Tony
David to Tony
They are not and Exploretalent isnt either I have used both, the reason neither is a scam is because they clearly disclose what they are charging you and provide you with castings as promised. Hollywoodprofiles.com doesn’t disclose CLEARLY the $49.95 charge they just tell you it’s $1.95 to start. Call your bank and file a dispute because as long as your debit card had a visa or MC logo your bank will still protect you.
Comment by stophollywoodprofiles — July 13, 2008 @ 6:25 pm
David, I’m not sure if I sent this to you or not, I have filled out so many of these complaints but here is my story.
Six weeks ago I thought I was paying for a trial basis ($1.95) to receive some information from this web site but after I hit the submit button, it said I would be charged $41.90. I couldn’t believe it and I called right away to cancel my transaction. I was told that the the wedsite was having problems and I would receive a refund. I talked to 2 people and got the same story. They claimed that they knew about the problem and I would receive a refund but it would take some time. I know now that it was a scam . What I don’t understand is that this company is still online and taking money from people.
I live in AZ. but I want to be involved in any class action suit against this company
Comment by stophollywoodprofiles — July 16, 2008 @ 4:16 am
[...] MAIN PAGE: http://stophollywoodprofiles.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/hollywoodprofiles/ [...]
Pingback by Hollywoodprofiles.com Scam Exposed Links To All The New Pages « HollywoodProfiles.com aka castingandtalent.com aka MovieForums.org aka uscastingsociety.org Scam Exposed. — July 16, 2008 @ 7:23 am
Sucks…you should’ve known better. The only time you pay money is when you just get finish doing a job for the agency that provided the work for you. You never and I mean NEVER pay for any upfront fees no matter how “GREAT” things sound. Don’t ever pay for pictures at an agency, what a true agency will do is refer to one of their photographers where then you’ll discuss the rates an such with the photographer.
Comment by Mike — July 23, 2008 @ 10:56 pm
You are my HERO!! I, too, thought I was signing up for the 1.95 and only signed up because of that small fee . I never received the confirmation email so I had no way of getting on to my account so I chalked up the loss of 1.95. Two days ago my husband told me about the 49.95 charge that appeared on our MasterCard. I knew it had to be a mistake so I dialed the 800 number and spoke with Steve. He immediately became angry and hostile with me and spoke to me with disgust telling me I should have read the fine print. There was NO fine print when I signed up and as soon as I get off the phone with him he sends me this email…..
By clicking submit I hereby agree to the privacy policy and terms of conditions of this website.
Charges will appear as TalentServic800-2707138
By submitting this form, you agree to the Privacy Policy of this Web Site, the HollywoodProfiles.com trial including the complete Terms and Conditions of the trial membership, the one dollar and ninety-five cents Activation, and to the following statement: “I understand that this consumer transaction involves a negative option, and that I may be liable for payment of future goods and services under the terms of this agreement for forty-nine dollars and ninety-five cents per month if I fail to notify the supplier not to supply the goods or services described within 14 days. I understand that I may cancel my membership at anytime with no further obligation by calling Hollywood Profiles support at 1-800-270-7138″ Your membership materials will be available to you digitally once you login to your members only account.
Be sure to show this to you bank rep
First of all, this is made up and if it is now on the website they added it when the legal troubles began. Secondly, with his last line he was obviously trying to intimidate me into not contact acting Mastercard. Well, this angry stay-at-home mom is not going to be bullied. I knew that I wasn’t unclear about what I had done because my family of 5 lives on one income and I watch every dime. I can’t believe the magnitude of people they have done this to. They should all be ashamed and I hope they get sued and serve time. Please keep me informed if there is a lawsuit. I want to know there is justice.
Thank you for looking out for the small people. Compassion does exist.
With admiration,
Katrina R. Moseley
Comment by Katrina — July 26, 2008 @ 1:50 am
there is something called the way back machine and it will show you any site at any period in history here is the link, http://www.archive.org/index.php
Also you should call your credit card company even if it is in their terms they must post it in a visable and clear place so you are aware of these charges. If you give them a link to my blog they will refund your money. You have to say that it is a scam and you have proof and just send them to my blog at stophollywoodprofiles.wordpress.com
Also if you want to help stop these guys spread the word on craigslist on yahoo answers and on any blogs and forums you can find. Just copy and paste the information I provide or a link so others can avoid this scam. If everybody helps these scammers will be shut down in no time!
Comment by stophollywoodprofiles — July 26, 2008 @ 2:38 am
“stophollywoodprofiles”, thanks for bringing this scam to everyone’s attention. With this ammunition, Cohen and his ilk can be prosecuted and the people they ripped off can be reimbursed. Having been employed as an extra on numerous occasions, I had to laugh at this bogus claim in Cohen’s ad on Craigslist: $250 a day for extra work (in what universe is THAT?). If this guy had one more brain, it would be awfully lonely.
Comment by Mary Malatesta — July 26, 2008 @ 9:41 am
Hollywoodprofiles.com thieves
This morning I woke up to find that after telling them a thing or two about what I thought about their shady company, they discreetly put my money back in my bank account. So now I’m happy, but want everyone to know what they really are before they make the same mistake I did.
It started with receiving an e-mail (junkmail) which I clicked on in curiosity and it took me to a no risk sign up page. 100% satisfaction guarantee (lol!)
I filled it out and then it directs you to a page to give them your credit card information for only $1.95 for membership to their site. Sounded like a good deal, so I did it. I’ve spent more money on mocha’s at starbucks after all.
I signed up and didn’t give it another thought. I have several profiles on the internet, most of them are free so didn’t think this was a big deal or any different at all until….. I saw my bank statement 14 days later where they charged me $50.00!!!
for what??? I never got anything for $50.00. So after spending hours and hours and days trying to get a person on the phone for this company, I finally get a hold of someone that was very cocky and wouldn’t even cancel my membership!!! She ended up hanging up on me after waiting on hold for an hour even waiting for someone to pick up. Boy then I was mad. So I called back, waited on hold forever again, and tried it all over again. I was very nice but told her that what she was saying didn’t make sense. She again agrued with me about canceling my membership and the fact that they have to charge me $50.00 for nothing because they can. I finally talked this one into cancelling my account, but why did that have to be debated? I’m confused? I’m sure it has something to do with, … oh I dunno, money maybe?
But she told me I didn’t qualify for a refund because you have to do it within 14 days. I said “well isn’t this day 14???” and so we argued about that for a while and finally gave up on the poor girl and hung up.
So I thought I would call back AGAIN and just talk to a manager or supervisor. I talked to a guy named Mike who seemed smug and proud of his cheating company. I said I just need to talk to a supervisor or manager please. He asked me what the problem was, so for the 3rd time, I told the problem. Then he said he couldn’t help me. I said again, I just need to talk to a manager. He told me that I didn’t qualify to talk to a manager. LOL! qualify. I laughed. I’ve never heard of having to qualify to talk to a manager LOL! So I told him if he was gonna steal my $50 bucks I think that’s bought me the right to speak to a manager! he still said no, so I told him how his company was a bunch of thieves and he hung up on me. LOL.
In the end though, they gave me my money back because they knew I was right. Hollywoodprofiles.com are thieves. Beware and I hope I prevent someone else from making the same mistake that I did signing up with them in the first place.
Comment by stophollywoodprofiles — July 29, 2008 @ 11:33 pm