Call Kurtis Investigates: Placerville Dad & Aspiring Actor Targeted in Scam

PLACERVILLE (CBS13) - Husband and father Alex Saldivar created a profile on the movie site IMDb, opening him up for casting calls for modeling, singing or acting.

He says scammers targeted his dream and now wants other dreamers to be aware of this scam.

Saldivar says he applied for a commercial shoot that he saw on the IMDb site. Within days, he got an email back saying they would like to book him for the commercial.

Saldivar was thrilled when he got a response booking him for the job.

"Oh my goodness, wow-whee, this is awesome," he said.

The alleged production company sent him a check for $4,850.10, telling him to keep $500 as his booking fee - with instructions to send the remaining $4,350.10 to the contracted fashion stylist, and the wardrobe for the commercial would be shipped to him.

But Saldivar wasn't buying the con; it was not the role he wanted to play.

"OK, hold on, wait wait, that doesn't sound right," he said.

Check scams like these have been around for a long time, says Lynn Conner with the Better Business Bureau.

"We've heard of many many scams, but this one, I have not heard before," she said.

Conner says the bad guys try to gain credibility by using legitimate sites like IMDb.

"It's horrible," she said.

Saldivar didn't fall for the racket. Instead, he slammed the door on the scammers.

"I'm not just doing it for me now, I'm doing it for my daughters and my family," he said.

We reached out to IMDb for comment and a spokesperson for IMDbPro said: "Complaints like this are rare. When a member contacts us with a concern, we take immediate action to investigate. If we determine that a member has violated our Terms of Service, our actions may include terminating their access to IMDbPro services. Refusing service to those who do not adhere to our Terms and Conditions is an integral part of our commitment to our members."

"We are looking into this incident and will take appropriate action. As a matter of policy, we do not discuss or speculate about the details of our associations with current or former members," said the IMDbPro spokesperson.

They added, "As the essential resource for entertainment industry professionals, IMDbPro is committed to providing access to opportunities to advance careers in entertainment worldwide. To ensure the best possible experience for our members, IMDbPro has strict policies in place which are available to read here."     https://pro-labs.imdb.com/subagreement#userconduct."