A Long Beach man was arrested by Seal Beach police earlier this month on suspicion of running a scheme where he claimed to be a photographer and defrauded a woman out of money in exchange for a fake modeling contract, authorities said.
Ricklynn Tyler Parnell, 24, was later released on Feb. 26, according to jail records, though it wasn’t immediately known if he posted bond.
Parnell allegedly reached out to a woman on Instagram, identified himself as an intern for a record label and said he was recruiting models for a photoshoot and music video, offering $175 an hour, Lt. Nick Nicholas said.
Parnell met the victim near the Seal Beach Pier on Feb. 18, Nicholas said. After taking several photos, Parnell gave the victim two checks for more than $1,000 each and asked that she return the maximum amount of cash from the deposits.
Parnell allegedly told the woman he was paying her upfront for future photoshoots, Nicholas said. Both banks gave the woman $200 in cash, which she returned to Parnell.
The victim told detectives she gave some of the money back because she “fell for the suspect’s sweet talk and promises of future modeling work,” police said.
Hours later, the bank called the woman and told her the checks she had deposited were fraudulent, Nicholas said. She then drove to the Seal Beach Police Department to report what had happened.
As she was being interviewed by investigators, Parnell called again and asked that they meet at the pier so she could be booked for the music video shoot, Nicholas said.
Officers and detectives were nearby as the victim met with Parnell, who was then detained without incident.
Statements and additional evidence found in Parnell’s vehicle led police to believe he scammed several other young women, Nicholas said.
He was arrested on suspicion of six counts of identity theft, four counts of defrauding by false pretense and seven counts of check fraud.
Police said they believe there may be more victims of the scam and were asking anyone with additional information to call Detective Bruno Balderrama at 562-799-4100, ext. 1109.
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