October 2008 news
F.A.Q.
- SW5 is probably no longer at Eardley Crescent following the loss of most of its remaining funding. A much reduced service may still be operating from THT's other centres.
- Following the repeated failure to pay their hosting bill, the SW5.info website and domain are no longer associated with any remaining THT service.
- Useful content on the site, including the message board, will remain for the foreseeable future.
- No-one knows of any real 'straight male escort' agencies. The one alluded to here closed in 2007 - read the rest of the article to see why.
- If it pretends to be an agency and wants any money whatsoever from you before you have cash in your hand from a client, it's a scam. Feel free to use the message board to alert people to any new ones you come across.
- If you have been scammed, your chances of getting the money back don't look too great. Especially if you paid cash to the bunch in Spain who operate under numerous names each of which involve victims paying hundreds of pounds to advertise to themselves.
You don't have to just take it though: they rely on a) being able to find victims via advertising, b) people not knowing the truth about them or the escorting market, c) being physically out of reach of victims, and d) victims keeping quiet out of embarrassment.
So...
- Make as much fuss in as many places as possible about them. Find an ad somewhere? Complain to the publisher! If the ad promises anything, complain to the Advertising Standards Agency!
- Click on their Google 'sponsored links' - it costs them money. Searches for "male escort" typically finds a handful of scams. Delete Google's cookies and do it again tomorrow!
- Look for questions elsewhere from people wanting to be escorts and tell them to avoid the scams. Got a website of your own (many ISPs give you free space)? Have a link to here! Help this site be the top Google link for the scam site names!
- If you know someone in Spain, get them to look out for the 'phone operators wanted' ads.
... and if you and want your details passed on to others in the same boat, email no.longer.sw5 at googlemail.com
Agencies to
beware of
An "agency" in Slough seems to be the front for a
group of men who rip off escorts, either by paying by cheque which they
then stop or robbing the escort directly. If you have ever been
contacted by 'Sunshine Girls' or 'Unique Escorts' or been offered a
substantial booking - overnight, servicing a group of men - in the area
by an agency you'd never heard of, please contact
us.
It looks likely that 'Naughty But Nice Escorts' (their
website naughtybutniceescorts.com is currently down) is either the same
people or a different lot running the same scam.
One escort has also been ripped off in Birmingham by a
group that sound like the same bunch.
Want less than one client every four
years?
They're not the only 'agency' who we think should be
avoided - see here for more details
about onlybyinvitation.com, Starnest Escorts, Brooke Morris International,
Network Escorts, Platinum Select, Ideal Escorts, guysforladies.com,
elegance4her.com, Men For All Occasions, Cavendish Knights, and many more.
