Sleazy photography fraud exposed

Someone fraudulently posing as a photographer for local magazines has been caught contacting would-be models in an attempt to have them supply nude images of themselves.
The man, going by the name David Higgs, has been in touch with a woman who posted on a New Zealand modelling Facebook page claiming to be a photographer for our sister publication, NZV8, and was exposed when the woman contacted the magazine’s editor, Todd Wylie.

Higgs, apparently based in Australia, had asked the woman to send topless or nude images to him under the pretence of looking for models for the motoring magazine, and offered to pay for any airfares, accommodation, food and make-up required.

The woman got in touch with Wylie and discovered the photographer did not work for the magazine and that NZV8 does not in fact feature models or promo girls. When asked if she could provide any details about Higgs, the woman supplied the screen grabs displayed here.

Wylie posted the image to the magazine’s Facebook page in the hopes of embarrassing the imposter, whose Facebook account has since been deleted, and raising awareness of the scam so that no one else might fall for the predatory ruse.

“While obviously we’re not overly impressed with people using our name in such away, our biggest concern is really for the girls that get fooled in to actually believing him,” says the editor.

“I guess it serves as a good reminder of the dangers of the internet, and that people really should be aware of who they’re dealing with.”

The story has since been picked up by many local mainstream media outlets.

If you have any further information or experience with this or similar scams, please contact us.