PORT ELIZABETH - TOW-TRUCK DRIVER LINKED TO ADVERT SOLICITING SEMI-NUDE PICTURES VIA BBM

A Port Elizabeth tow-truck driver has found himself at the centre of a scam in which young women were lured into posing semi-nude and topless for modelling jobs using his BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) profiles.

Christiaan Beer, 21, who works for Precision Tow-In, claims the BBM profiles on three of his five cellphones were hacked by a phony agency that claimed to be opening a branch in Port Elizabeth.

His accounts were used to advertise a call for young women to send pictures of themselves to another BBM profile used by a Tamsin du Toit, who claimed to be the chief executive of Boss Modelling Agency.

While Beer admits to posting the advert once on his BBM traffic alert group, BB Traffic Updates, he is adamant he was not involved in additional posts calling for women to send semi-nude or topless pictures to Du Toit.

“I thought it was a good opportunity for my fiancee so I sent a picture of her to Du Toit and she said they would pay R4 500 per hour that she modelled, fully clothed. They then said they would give me R1 500 per referral,” Beer said.

But Boss Models director Linda Bruchhausen said they did not have any such deal and were not opening a branch in the Bay. She also said a Du Toit did not work for the company.

“We avoid social media scouting because this type of thing gives us a terrible name. And worse still, a lot of young people get caught out,” she said.

VIA - heraldlive.co.za