KEY POINTS:
Police are warning young women to beware of a bogus fashion photographer who persuaded a teenager to pose topless for him.
Police said the photographer approached 18-year-old Traci Curtis while she was working at West Auckland's Westgate Mall.
"He asked if I had done any modelling before," she told the Western Leader newspaper in Auckland.
"He was offering to do a photo shoot for an ad for $500."
The man sent Miss Curtis a contract in the post.
She said she thought it was "weird" that he wanted to take the photos in a hotel room, but he told her it was because he was working by himself.
Miss Curtis was asked to pose provocatively in underwear and a bikini, with a lollipop as a prop, on a bed while the man took pictures with a small digital camera.
He told her his car had been stolen with all his camera gear in it.
He then told her it would "open up options for her" if she posed topless and said she could cover herself with her arms.
She agreed.
It was not until a couple of days later that she realised her mistake and told her father who contacted the police.
"He seemed all right and quite professional," she said.
"The photos could be on the internet for all I know.
"I'm so embarrassed at myself for letting it get to this. But I wanted to speak up if he's doing it to other girls."
Massey acting Sergeant Dean Furminger said young women need to be cautious and this man was probably "doing all this all over the place".
Police were not able to lay charges because Miss Curtis is over 18.
- NZPA
