An email scam is doing the rounds, asking teens and young women to send on photos of themselves in bikinis.

Irish agencies, Assets and 1st Option, have both taken to social media to advise their followers that they will never scout for models in this way.

1st Option warned that the scam is targeting "children, young girls and teenagers."

As well as trying to get in contact via email, there also seems to be Snapchat accounts asking young women of the same thing.

 

A post shared by 1st Option MMP (@1stoptionmodels) on Apr 28, 2017 at 3:35am PDT

"The individual is also contacting parents of young girls through websites," 1st Option's social media pages read.

"If you are approached by anyone, saying they are from 1st Option, please report them immediately.

"We have never, nor will we ever, sign up or give modeling contracts via social media or third party websites, without meeting in person first.

"We will never contact parents of children, young girls and teenagers for photographs unless they have contacted us first."

 

Hey guys! It's been brought to our attention by another Dublin Agency that someone has been setting up fake profiles and claiming to work for them and asking people to send pictures. Where we have gone through this several times before, this issue is becoming a common thing. If you are interested in any kind of modelling, please contact an Agency directly. Do NOT send any pictures over social media! A reputable agency will not ask you to do this. Social media gives people too easy access to contact users and unfortunately this is not always for a genuine reason. If someone asks you to send pictures, please ask what agency you work for, what's the address of the agency, a contact number and then contact the agency directly. More often than not, if they are asking you to send bikini pictures, they are not who they say they are. Please be careful and if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't! Thank you for taking the time to read x

A post shared by Assets Model Agency (@assetsmodels) on Apr 28, 2017 at 6:29am PDT

Assests boss, Derek Daniels, told Independent.ie that anyone who has any suspicion at all should contact the agency directly.

"People can make an appointment with reputable agencies… we hold open days. We would never ask people to send pictures via Instagram or anything else," he said.

A post on the Assest's social media pages reads: "Social media has so many benefits but unfortunately some people use it for the wrong reasons.

"A person that you may think looks completely authentic may be the complete opposite."

Be safe and beware, ladies.