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Press Release |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AFTRA WARNS PERFORMERS OF POTENTIAL MEMBERSHIP SCAM Also Informs NY, NJ, and CA Regulatory and Consumer
Agencies Los
Angeles, CA, September 30,
2005 – The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has
issued a warning about a scam intended to
defraud performers. Upon
receiving a report that Fisch Industries Global, Inc., a company
representing itself as a casting agency for AFTRA-covered programs, is
asking performers to pay money to be applied to the union’s initiation fee
and/or dues, AFTRA immediately posted a
warning on its website (www.aftra.com) and sent a notification to its members. The notice warns all
performers – members and potential members alike – that this is a scam and
no such relationship or process exists. Further, AFTRA is asking any
performer who is approached by any company that represents itself as a
casting agency, talent agency, or production entity, and asks for a
payment towards an AFTRA initiation fee and/or dues, to contact the AFTRA
offices in either New York or Los Angeles. AFTRA will then notify the
proper authorities. AFTRA does not have any arrangements with any outside
companies to collect performers’ initiation fees and/or dues, and any
attempt to collect money on AFTRA’s behalf is unauthorized and
fraudulent. In letters sent to the New York State Consumer Protection Board,
the New York Department of Consumer Affairs, the New York City Better
Business Bureau, the Newark Attorney General, the California Department of
Labor, Actor’s Equity Association, and Screen Actors Guild, Megan Capuano,
AFTRA’s National Director of Agent Relations, reported this “aggressive
scam intended to defraud performers,” and stated, “In any industry, but
particularly in the entertainment industry where performers are
often the target of unethical and unscrupulous behavior promising stardom,
this type of behavior is dangerous, inappropriate, unethical, and illegal.
AFTRA takes all claims of this nature very seriously and seeks to prevent
future abuses of this kind. We remain committed to doing what we can to
educate performers and members of the public about these types of
misrepresentations.” AFTRA’s
website alert provides contact information, including email links, for the
AFTRA National and Los Angeles Local Agency Departments. ### |
