Audition websites - how to spot the dodgy ones and what you need to know about payments

So you've found a website which lists auditions and you sign up to it - how do you know the site isn't dodgy? How do you decide when to pay a fee to access info or not? Here's some tips:

Disclaimer: This advice has been provided in good faith. However you should undertake your own research and take all care before acting or not acting on any of this information. Caveat emptor -  buyer beware!

DON'T use sites like Seek.com, or other non-arts sites to look for work. They rarely provide audition or jobs information (except perhaps, arts admin work for local councils), and usually when they do, they are for the more dodgy roles of 'adult dancer'. Sites like Arts Hub, QuietOnSet, or Aussietheatre.com live and breath researching jobs for the arts, which means they publish 99% of the advertised arts jobs out there. Seek.com, etc. don't. Those first three are also run by and for theatre people, which means you're more likely to find useful info and know that is run by people who are genuinely interested in helping, rather than making money off of you. DON'T USE AMERICAN SITES: They will never have anything for Aussies, and many of them are scams. (List of scam sites below) DON'T use sites that are laden with Google ads, have no contact or 'about' info for the creators. If there is no physical address or info that you can research independently (ie. do a Google and find a CEO's name, reference, or credit on another website) and confirm, then it is most likely going to be dodgy and/or a waste of your time. Never hand over money to such websites Make sure they have terms and conditions and privacy policies (read more on that below) These sites are usually created by people who want to earn advertising money, and rarely offer good, reliable, up-to-date information. If you don't know who runs the site, you don't know whether or not they have a background or interest in the arts, which is crucial to them being able to find relevant info and jobs for Australian theatre people. If you want to find out who owns a website, use www.dnsstuff.com and do a DNS check (ie. in the DNS check field, write the URL of the site. They will automatically search for who owns the site). If the site is a .com.au, the owner legally must present an Australian Business Number when registering the domain name. This means that you can do a DNS check and then look up the ABN on the government's Business website; and make a complaint to the relevant authorities if necessary. An example of doing your research may turn up some interesting information about the site: http://www.theatre.asn.au/tech_talk/bts_jobs http://www.theatre.asn.au/green_room_gossip/free_casting_website_membership_available_this_weekend_only DON'T use sites that aren't updated often. DON'T use sites that link off to other sites (like Careerone, etc.), since you may as well just use the original site where the info came from. Occasionally, members do post ads for such sites. Here I will create a list of threads that discuss sites to AVOID: http://www.theatre.asn.au/green_room_gossip/free_casting_website_membership_available_this_weekend_only http://www.theatre.asn.au/billboard_bulletins/actors_and_extras_needed_0 Here's a discussion of Starnow, which has received mixed reviews: http://www.theatre.asn.au/blog/lilfiz/starnow_com_au http://www.theatre.asn.au/blog/carlyd636/finding_agents AMERICAN SITES THAT ARE KNOWN SCAMS Craigslist - although there is an Aussie section, this site is not used by Australian theatre people, and there is a high risk of scams. Better to avoid it. ExploreTalent.com, ONESOURCETALENT.COM, Talenthunter, Instantcast.com and TALENT6.COM all have reports of being scams where you are asked to make payments for absolutely useless information, and creation of profile pages which could be better done by signing up for AT2 or something similar. (Some of these sites may only be advertised to American teens in America, and may not necessarily be easily found by Aussies. However, I add them here in order to inform people just in case) While there is no easy way to learn what a dodgy site looks like (it's mostly a gut instinct), here's some tips: A good site will have some verifiable information about the owners/publishers, their physical address or at the very least an email address to contact. A web form that you fill out and no contact info suggests there's no one looking after the website. A good site will have up-to-date info, will not be overly laden with Google ads, and will not ask for unusual personal info (like how much money you make). Be wary of any site where you are randomly asked to attend an audition or given a role when you have not applied for it. A good website will have Terms and Conditions and a Privacy Statement - MAKE SURE YOU READ THEM! Most people don't, but when handing over personal info and/or money, you should know certain things: will these people take your profile info and post it somewhere else? Will they protect your privacy? How do they keep your info private? Can you get a refund? Sometimes, the privacy/terms&conds are actually a useful way to CHECK the website; have they copied and pasted another website's terms and conditions and forgot to change the all-important company name? Do your research: if you haven't heard about the person or company before, look them up. Ask around, google the website name. Check American and Australian business sites that report rip-offs and scams. If you feel wary about the website, then DON'T use it. If it's too good to be true, it probably is, and there are heaps of these sites around. If you do sign up for a site, NEVER ASSUME THAT EVERY AD IS LEGIT. Many, if not most, websites can not and do not filter through every single ad to confirm its legitimacy. Therefore, even if you trust the site, you CAN NOT TRUST THE AD. Be sure to do due diligent research on the ad, just as you would for the website. ALWAYS BE WARY OF EMAILS FROM THE WEBSITE THAT TELL YOU YOUR ACCOUNT WILL/HAS BEEN CANCELLED AND TO SEND PERSONAL INFO; even legit sites can be 'copied' by spammers and scammers. If you're concerned about your account, then DO NOT CLICK LINKS IN THE EMAIL, and instead type the website address directly into your browser and login to the site. If there's no notice of a cancellation of your account, then it's most likely a scam; contact the website owners to confirm. When do you hand over money? Certainly NOT BEFORE RESEARCHING it using the info above. Only when you are comfortable should you give money over - be sure to check what their refunds policy is, if they have a short 'test' period at which you can ask for your money back in (for example) 14 days. Don't feel as though you'll miss out on some big movie role if you don't pay out: these websites won't advertise roles like that, they'll only be cast through agents. Only pay up if you feel comfortable that the info on the website will be useful; do a lot of investigation of the site, how it works, what you can do, what info is listed, what info is 'hidden' before you pay. You can also always call or email the website owners and ask them to do a walk-through of how the site works and what payment will get you. Talking to the actual people who run the site may assuage your worries. One more thing: just because a site is run by someone who is in the industry (or professes to have been) does not make it legit. I have heard of a number of sites where the person in charge has no concept of privacy, and of instances where private information has been repeated to other people. I have heard of a number of sites which have been set up by local artists who have little to no understanding of online privacy, the necessity of encryption of private info (like credit card info for example).... In other words, just because the person works in theatre does not mean they have the knowledge, experience or concepts to run an online business ethically. If you ever hear or read of anything that makes you feel insecure about your info being kept private, or the person in charge doing something which sounds dodgy to you, then don't use their services.

What to know about credit cards and paying online

When you buy something from a website, you need to know a few things: 1: Does the site have a certificate? In web terms, this is called 'SSL', it refers to 'secure socket layer'. A legit website - or even the dodgy ones actually, more on that in a sec - use SSL which both encrypts the data that is transferred during payment, and is like a 'background' check on the company that you're paying to. Basically what that means is that your credit card or other personal details will be encrypted when sent through the website. Obtaining an SSL certificate can cost $10 or thousands depending on what kind of certificate is purchased. This is important to know. It does not affect the level of encryption, or safety of your info, but rather affects the amount of time and labour the certificate-giving company spends on doing the background check of the website. The background check is to ensure that the website is what it says it is and that the company/people who run it are who they say they are. This means that a non-legit company can purchase a $10 SSL certificate and the only background check done is that the email address doesn't bounce. A thousand-dollar check means that the certificate-giving company actually goes through the site's legal status and checks against local authorities and other relevant references. It is also useful to know that there are certificate-giving companies that are more trusted than others, as well as certificate-giving companies that are entirely dodgy. This means that when you make a payment to a website, you should look for a little badge, button or notice that shows that the site is certified. In internet explorer and other browsers, a little green closed padlock will appear in the browser's address bar, showing that the site is certified and secure. On a secure page, you will also notice the URL should be https:// instead of the normal http:// When making payments you should also double check for yourself that the certificate is what it's supposed to be: dodgy websites also 'borrow' other people's certificates and have been known to piggy-back other sites. To check the certificate, double click on the padlock and read the info in the certificate: it should say the name of the company, who certified them, and on what date. If none of those things match what is given on the site itself (ie. the company name is different), then you will want to do further investigation. 2. Getting error messages? Some websites use a 'shared' certificate, which basically means their web host offers a certificate to their customers on a shared basis. While this is as secure as unshared certificates in terms of encryption, it basically means that the company has had no background check, because they've simply given themselves the certificate. This doesn't mean they're dodgy necessarily, probably just people wanting to either save money or they don't know how to set up SSL themselves. You can check their certificate (clicking the padlock remember?) yourself and if you are happy with the site, you can actually manually add their certificate to your browser as a site to trust. (Every browser comes with a selected list of 'trusted' certificate authorities - ie. Verizon, GeoTrust - which automatically add websites as trusted sites if they are certified by that company) Another thing is that every image on the site has to be proceeded by the https:// and images can interfere with the certificate; the site may give an error message saying the site isn't secure even though it is, it's just the images aren't given the correct image address. You can check this for yourself when you open the certificate and view the 'media' for the site. You can see all the images listed and whether or not one is incorrectly addressed and interfering with the site (incidentally, some web stat codes also interfere with this and so you may get an error message without having an image incorrectly addressed). If you've checked the above error problems and none of them apply, then be wary and do more research. All of the above about certificates is said with a caveat: Theatre companies and other such arts-related companies rarely have the money to pay several thousand dollars every year to get/keep certified. There is no way to know whether or not the company pays for a $10 one or a higher-priced one; nor is it a way to judge whether or not the company is legit. I'm merely stating what the facts are in relation to your security when making payments online. 3. Does it have a refunds policy, privacy policy or any other terms and conditions? If so, read them and be informed about your rights. If not, ask yourself why. 4. Don't want to pay online? Then don't. Legit companies will actually take other forms of payment if you contact them via phone, usually cheques, money orders or direct deposit. If they don't, and you don't want to pay online, then don't pay online and take your business elsewhere. Updated 25 Feb 2009