Caution urged for racy ad

WASILLA — Those looking for a second job or some quick summer cash should be wary of anonymous claims offering the potential for large paydays.

That’s the message local law enforcement has for Mat-Su Valley residents after an advertisement popped up on the Anchorage Craigslist online bulletin board. The ad, posted May 3, puts out a call for nude dancers who are “needed for a new club opening up June 1 in Wasilla.” It touts an experienced management team, says dancers can “easily earn up to $500 or more per night” and that auditions will be held in two weeks.

The post, which has no identifying or contact information other than asking responders to reply to an anonymous Craigslist email address, also asks people to send their contact information and “a few photos” of themselves. An email requesting a response for this story was not responded to by press time.

“We looked into this to a certain extent,” Wasilla Police Chief Gene Belden said. “The only thing we can possibly come up with is this is possibly someone soliciting nude photos from people. It’s just a fraud.”

Although he can’t confirm one way or another whether the advertisement is legitimate, it throws up many red flags, Belden said.

“That’s why we looked into it,” he said. “There may be a weirdo out there who wants pictures to publish on the Internet or something. ... I think it’s a scam.”

While the ad asks people to send photos of themselves for an alleged nude dancing club in Wasilla, there doesn’t seem to be any such club planned either in the city or the Mat-Su Borough.

Wasilla city officials confirmed there is only one pending business license within city limits for a restaurant along the Parks Highway, and the borough also says there aren’t any applications for an adult-oriented business anywhere in the borough.

In fact, there are no adult businesses operating in the borough, said Susan Lee, acting permitting services manager for the borough.

That someone would allegedly try to scam women into sending nude photos of themselves doesn’t surprise Wasilla councilwoman Taffina Katkus, but she said she’s dismayed people in Wasilla would be targeted.

“We do need more thinking and less drinking in this town, and we need to counter that with good development and encourage other kinds of development,” she said. “It’s up to the community to decide what kind of development we want. … There’s a lot of naughtiness going on in our communities, and we have to look out for the youths and those who are very week to fall into this stuff.”

Councilwoman Dianne Woodruff echoed those thoughts, adding that if a nude dancing club really was in the works, “my guess is the neighbors would have a fit and it would get turned down in a hurry.”

As a woman, especially at a time when school is letting out and young people are looking for summer jobs, Woodruff advises caution.

“I would be afraid this is a scam,” she said. “I wouldn’t recommend that young women (respond) to it. I don’t want (scammers) targeting our residents, and a lot of times young women don’t think about the long-term consequences.”

Councilwoman Colleen Sullivan-Leonard said she saw the ad, and thinks “it’s very inappropriate. I was looking through it and trying to figure out who this is. It seems like kind of an unseemly group trying to target women who are trying to find work in our community. We don’t need that here.”

Because it doesn’t solicit money or encourage or advance illegal activity, the Craigslist ad likely isn’t illegal, said Beth Ipsen, a public information officer with the Alaska State Troopers. However, to her knowledge, troopers haven’t looked into this advertisement specifically.

That there is no way to identify who you may be responding to in the posting is a warning sign, she said.

“This would apply to anything, but there is no guarantee (photos and information) will not be used for anything else,” she said. “That’s why people need to be careful. It’s just a matter of are you willing to risk the chance your photo will be used for something that may not be very tasteful? … If it raises alarm, there’s a reason. Just beware.”

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.