1. Make sure name cards have a company name, logo, office address and a land line number, says Ms Rowena Foo, Diva Models Singapore’s managing director.

2. Check out the office premises to ensure that the agency is really located at the address.

3. Don’t accept a mobile phone number. Proper businesses will have land lines.

4. Legitimate agencies have genuine websites with their own domain names. Photos and portfolios on the website attest to the agency’s presence.

5. New models are only required to wear body-hugging clothes. Only professional models are asked to strip to check for plastic surgery, tattoos or hidden scars.

6. Professional modelling agencies are unlikely to engage freelance talent scouts, say owners and bookers of eight agencies interviewed.

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This article was first published in The New Paper.