Without trying to scaremonger, I have already tried to answer this question with a bit of googling, and so far I haven't found anything.

The reason why I'm asking is because a friend went for a an interview with a large, long-established agency that appeared to be well run. They asked her to bring in two forms of ID to prove her date of birth and address, which I think a few agencies seem to do these days. A lot of the 'better' establishments do this to prove to police that no girls on their books are underage and that they are entitled to work in the UK. I also think this is to make sure all fees are paid into them, but they mentioned something else to her that worries me.

They said that if a girl was caught poaching clients, they would use the copies of ID and publish their real identities online, and they would only be taken down when the girl paid in what the agency estimated to be their loss of commission. My mate asked them what the website was called, but the owner wouldn't tell her.

I suspect they are just saying this to deter girls from nicking clients and cutting them out, but they said they bought it into force just over a year ago and it works - their lines are busier because the girls have such a strong threat hanging over them. Does anyone know if there is any truth in this claim?

I think there'd be a lot of problems keeping such a website hosted. Sounds like a bluff.

Never heard of a website like that.  Although I do know of an agency that put up pictures of girls who left under bad terms on lamp posts near their home addresses.  And they got into trouble for it.

I know all businesses need rules and structure to run smoothy, but that in my mind is a threat and I wouldnt work for someone like that.  Hopefully your friend will reseach more agencies before deciding which one to work with and begin work with someone other than that agency. 

My first reaction was they are blagging it, no such site exists and the more I think about it it must be right.

As it stands we cannot list timewasters name and number online in full because of the Data Protection Act so surely we would be covered by  that too. 

What do others think?

This also occurs to me;

A website is only of use if people look at it, and for people to look at it they've got to be able to find it, and none of us have ever found anything remotely similar to what has been suggested...

Even IF this Agency had this website and even IF they plastered the pictures and names of client stealing girls all over it it's no real concern if no-one ever looks at the site. They might as well say they write the names of the 'naughty' girls down on a sheet of paper and keep it in their desk drawer for all the threat it holds.

On a slightly different note, and my opinion of Agencies notwithstanding, why would anyone want to work for a company which is not only illegal but actually threatens their prospective Employers (NOT employees!) with something illegal at the first interview. Is that really the sort of people you want to be able to rely on to look after your health and safety and to act honourably when it comes to financial matters? For them to say their lines are busier because of the the way they threaten girls is madness - it's hardly the kind of thing an Agent would have to boast about and surely it would raise a question in the mind of the most woolly headed punter!

I'm afraid I think the whole notion of a public site where girls are named and shamed is crap. Even if I wanted to work for an Agency no way would they get a copy of my id either. If I was absolutely DESPERATE to work for them I might show them my passport with my picture and date of birth showing and my real name blacked out to prove I was overage and a UK Citizen, but that would be the full extent of the info they got.

R xx

This is absolutely disgusting, and I know some agencies are very happy to go around ruining girls lives, even if they've done nothing wrong. If agencies are worried about the paying of commission then they should request the escort deposits it before it gets above a certain amount. They ask for personal details so they can threaten their escorts, no decent agency would ever ask. I would accept showing a form of photographic ID to prove date of birth, but obscuring the real name. The agencies I work for don't know, nor do they want to know, my real name. I've heard of agencies (and seen) that escort agencies get an escorts real name + escort as a suggestion on search engines (so when you type in her name on google top of the suggestions are eg. When you type in Jane Smith up will come 'Jane Smith Escort', and then a link to her escort page). A paranoid agency were convinced an escort had pinched a client, even though she hadn't, and did this to her. I've heard of agencies reporting escorts to HMRC (one did to me, they investigated me for 18months, but due to me declaring my earnings they found nothing, but still made me feel guilty and it was horrible), sometimes the inland revenue are more lenient on agencies who point them in the direction of their escorts, who many of aren't declaring.

Tell your friend to steer clear of these pimps and to find a better run agency. I am happy to PM suggestions of ones I know are well run.