Kids.com LLC & National Talent Associates: What Do They Have in Common?

Larry Bagwell. Kids.com perpetuates the National Talent Associates scam. For over thirty years this child modeling scam has been operating in New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota. Dateline NBC investigated. The FTC sued. The DOJ took over. Then they changed the name of the company to keep the scam going. Millions of dollars in upfront fees. Scamming children and their parents. Uses mail fraud. Operating an unlicensed employment agency.

Kids.com: "The business practices are very different between the two companies."

Proof?

"Um, uh, um, uh, can I get back to you on that?"

"National Talent Associates preyed on parents' pride in their children. NTA and Ashfield blatantly ignored our previous orders and continued to do business as usual." -- Jodie Bernstein, Director of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

"The defendants and each and all of their officers, agents, servants, employees, successors, assigns, heirs, attorneys, and all persons in active concert or participation with them, or any of them, who shall have received actual notice of the contents of this Order by personal service or otherwise, are permanently restrained. . .

"Defendants NTA and Ashfield, and their successors, heirs and assigns, shall notify the Associate Director for Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 20580, at least thirty (30) days prior to any change in defendants' business including, but not limited to, merger, incorporation, dissolution, assignment, sale that results in the emergence of a successor corporation, sale that results in the transfer of substantially all assets, the creation or dissolution of a subsidiary or parent, or any other change that may affect the defendants' obligations under the Order of Permanent Injunction." -- FTC Order of Permanent Injunction

Larry Bagwell: "They were in the same business. When they went out of business, we did purchase some assets from them." (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/7915313.htm)

How many is "some"? Just about ALL. The entire client list, every office, the phone numbers, the domain name. What was that? A "sale that results in the transfer of substantially all assets."

"Deceptive modeling agencies prey on parents' pride and children's innocence, bilking consumers out of hundreds or thousands of dollars in the process. This type of fraud is especially troubling as it strikes at the most vulnerable of our society – our children." — Charlie Mattingly, President, Better Business Bureau, Louisville, Southern Indiana and Western Kentucky.

Terri Gruca: "Can you tell me how many of your kids have gotten jobs?"

Larry Bagwell: "I'm . . . I'm busy now."

1. http://www.trenton.bbb.org/nis/newsearch2.asp?ID=1&ComID=0221000080003859

2. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/05/talent4.shtm

3.

4. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/7915313.htm

5. http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/05/talent4.shtm

6. http://www.trenton.bbb.org/nis/newsearch2.asp?ID=1&ComID=0221000029003241

7.

8. "Parents who paid $595 complain they were misled about children's chances." (http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/7915313.htm)

9. In a Los Angeles Times article, "Not All Talent Scouts Behave Like Model Citizens" (Oct. 26, 1994), Jerome P. Ashfield, the leader of National Talent Associates, confirmed as "accurate" the following statistics for the preceding five years (1990-1994):

Number of clients: 23,310
Number of clients receiving paying work: 629
Number of clients receiving paying work over $500: 201

Success rate = 0.9%. (201/23,310)
Failure rate = 99.1%!

In a letter to prospective clients in 1999, National Talent Associates revealed their horrendous failure rate for the previous five years (1994-1998), the Non-Stop Disaster:

Number of clients: 18,414.
Number of clients receiving paying work: 723
Number of clients receiving paying work over $500: 167

Success rate = 0.9% (167/18,414).
Failure rate = 99.1%!

10.

11. datelinekids.html

12. http://wcco.com/iteam/grays.model.management.2.688941.html

The definitive link between National Talent Associates and Kids.com LLC:
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Under Investigation: The inside story of the Florida Attorney General's investigation of Wilhelmina Scouting Network, the largest model and talent scam in America. by by Les Henderson

Crimes of Persuasionon