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Amydoll19
10-24-2011, 01:20 PM
I'm looking to start cam modeling part time, but I'm concerned about possible future repurcussions in the "outside world".....as I work a full time job.

If I were to go for a new job...and they ran a background check for employment history, I wouldn't be too happy with "Streamates" popping up.

does their company go by any other name ?
Some bigger affiliate perhaps? something more obscure? lol
Has anyone had issues when looking for work outside of camming, with the cam agencies popping up on the employment check...
how do you handle this?

I'm hoping to work for a company that understands their models may have a need for some discretion while doing camming.

anybody know?

GlamourRouge
10-24-2011, 02:26 PM
I'm looking to start cam modeling part time, but I'm concerned about possible future repurcussions in the "outside world".....as I work a full time job.

If I were to go for a new job...and they ran a background check for employment history, I wouldn't be too happy with "Streamates" popping up.

does their company go by any other name ?
Some bigger affiliate perhaps? something more obscure? lol
Has anyone had issues when looking for work outside of camming, with the cam agencies popping up on the employment check...
how do you handle this?

I'm hoping to work for a company that understands their models may have a need for some discretion while doing camming.

anybody know?

They go by "Streamates" legally. If you aren't prepared to deal with the consequences of adult sites coming up on a background check, this industry is probably not right for you. Its a job, not a hobby. And these are risks you take coming into this industry.

SarahTime
10-24-2011, 02:42 PM
I have had some background checks and none of the sites I have cammed on showed up on them. I don't know why it would unless you specifically listed Streamate as your job on something like an application or what not. Which wouldn't even be accurate because you wouldn't work "for" Streamate. And with taxes, Streamate doesn't even send out 1099s so I don't think that would show up in your background check because when you do your taxes you would be listed as an independent contractor.

There is no reason why Streamate would show up on a background check, but I do second GlamourRouge's opinion on it.

Another thing to think of is if you get checks in the mail it will clearly say "Streamates Limited" on the outside of the envelope and on the check its self. I'm not sure what it would show for bank wires. Probably something similar.

Spinnerette
10-24-2011, 02:47 PM
Unlike being recognized by people in your social circle, I think it's a pretty valid concern. People age and the face of camming is changing so the longevity of one's career can vary. It's nice to know up front what you're potentially risking/sacrificing for working in this biz and that's all she asked.

tinydancer23
10-24-2011, 02:50 PM
in my experience, independent contracting work doesn't show up on background checks, unless you've specifically listed it in your application or resume. but i agree with glamour rouge - it is a very real risk you take coming into the industry, and for most people it's not a matter of "if" people find out you once did sex work, it's a matter of "when" they find out.

h0ttie
10-24-2011, 03:06 PM
I'm hoping to work for a company that understands their models may have a need for some discretion while doing camming.



sorry to say they really don't care...

fallout_grrl
10-24-2011, 03:15 PM
Anywhere that you pay taxes to will be visible on a background check.

Dancing Days
10-24-2011, 03:23 PM
sorry to say they really don't care...

I second this. No matter what site you cam for, they will most likely

a) record your private shows and sell them so they'll be around forever
b) use you in their promotional stuff which they spread even on non-adult sites like The Pirate Bay (which is frequented by millions every day)
c) leak your shows on porn tube sites (which are also frequented by millions daily)
or
d) all of the above

But since you don't pay taxes TO Streamate, I highly doubt it will show up on a background check. Besides, they're not even a US-based company.

SarahTime
10-24-2011, 03:32 PM
Anywhere that you pay taxes to will be visible on a background check.

You don't pay taxes "to" Streamate or to any cam site. You pay taxes as an independent contractor.

tinydancer23
10-24-2011, 03:34 PM
^yes this.

you. are. not. an. employee.

Melonie
10-24-2011, 03:55 PM
^^^ yes but independent contractor webcam girls who receive copies of 1099-misc automatic reports of webcam host payments = taxable income issued by the webcam host to the IRS will indeed have a permanent 'link' established between their own name / ss# and the fact that they earned money working for business name XYZ. If the business name appearing on the 1099-misc form happens to be 'Streammates' or anything else that is easily recognizable, it's pretty certain that potential future employers are going to 'put two and two together'.

Amydoll19
10-24-2011, 04:55 PM
Thank you for your opinions everyone,

and just to clarify my intent....I wouldn't be coming into Camming as a "hobby"
I'm a single woman, I am older, on my own, having hard times economically now (aren't we all?)
and I would be viewing cam work as my 2nd job,

SarahTime mentioned that they don't even send you 1099's.
so how do we report our earnings to Uncle Sam for this work?
I'm a little confused when she said we're not "Employees...we're independent contractors".

Excuse my ignorance here....are we not required to fill out something like a W-2 when we sign up with the site?
I wasnt' aware that Streamates wasn't run here in the USA...they're overseas? UK?

So again....if no 1099's sent out....how do we report this income at tax time??

Thank you again for educating me everyone :)

tinydancer23
10-24-2011, 05:11 PM
streamate doesn't issue 1099s and they're based out of cyprus. cams.com (streamray) does, i think - i'm not sure if any other sites do. i can't remember which ones i got 1099s from last year and which i didn't.

you report the income based on your record of your earnings. if you have paystubs and 1099s, you can keep them in case you're audited (or just print out your earnings/payment pages for a record). you don't have to itemize which specific companies you received income from - you add up all the gross income from your 1099s and whatever other income you have.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/selfemployed/index.html

personally i've gotten numerous 1099s over the last several years for both adult and non-adult businesses and as far as i know no one has seen the specific company names on a background check. but that's just been my experience.

however, like i said earlier, that's not a guarantee that there isn't risk of this coming back to bite you in the ass someday (if you don't want people to ever know you did sex work). it's totally possible it could show up on a background check (i just really, really, really doubt it). or, more likely, your employer could see your popup or video on a tube site.

GlamourRouge
10-24-2011, 05:49 PM
You don't pay taxes "to" Streamate or to any cam site. You pay taxes as an independent contractor.

It WILL show up on an in-depth background check FOR SURE if they issue you 1099s. Only about half of adult sites issues 1099s as of right now, but they could decide to do so at ANY time. In 5 years, next year, TOMORROW, never. There's just no way to tell.

SarahTime
10-24-2011, 07:59 PM
Streamate does not issue 1099s, MFC does. Not sure which other ones do.

Blovely
10-24-2011, 08:35 PM
cams also issues 1099s
dont quote me on it but i think camworld does too
if your ever thinking of doing clips on clips4sale they issue one as well

Lights
10-25-2011, 09:42 AM
I just went online to receive a copy of my credit report and under my current employer it says "Streammate". I didn't think that this information would show up on my credit report!

fallout_grrl
10-25-2011, 10:45 AM
I just went online to receive a copy of my credit report and under my current employer it says "Streammate".


Exactly. You can all argue that you aren't paying taxes "to" a company. Duh. No one pays taxes TO their employer, the employer just withholds it, unless you are an independent contractor.

SarahTime
10-25-2011, 10:52 AM
You are an independent contractor when you sign up for a cam site. Any of them. You are not an employee, you do not fill out a W-2. A 1099 is issued to independent contractors - cam models or construction workers. Streamate does not issue these because they are not US based, some cam sites do. However you are still an independent contractor regardless if you are issued a 1099 or not.

I've never had any cam site show on my credit report and I just got mine last week. I've been doing this for a very long time. The ONLY way it would show up is if you yourself listed "Streamate" on any application of any kind. Anything having to do with taxes WILL NOT show up on your credit report, unless of course you owe the IRS money. There is no reason that Streamate would show up in a credit report from Streamate's doing because you are NOT EMPLOYED BY STREAMATE. If you question this, just ask them. They will tell you the same I am.

Streamate is NOT going to withhold taxes for you, neither is a cam site that sends a 1099 such as MFC. It is YOUR responsibility to report your earnings on your taxes and pay any taxes due, REGARDLESS if you are issued a 1099 or not.

Melonie
10-25-2011, 12:43 PM
Only about half of adult sites issues 1099s as of right now, but they could decide to do so at ANY time. In 5 years, next year, TOMORROW, never. There's just no way to tell.

Not meaning to get political, but one provision of recent US National Health Care law was an IRS mandate to all businesses ( not just US based businesses ) that make payments to US businesses that 1099's must be issued to reflect those payments. Enforcement of this provision is in 'limbo' right now, but many businesses have set things in motion to comply anyhow so they don't get 'surprised' later. Also, issuance of 1099's is now necessary if the issuing business wishes to deduct payments made to other businesses from their own business income tax bill.

The risk factors here are that A. even if a particular webcam host site did not issue 1099's last year, there is no guarantee that they won't issue them for this year. B. you won't know until next March ( the deadline for 1099s is february ) whether or not you ( and the IRS ) will be receiving a 1099 reporting your income. C. this leaves you perhaps 6 weeks between March and April 15th to come up with the 30% ( or whatever ) of your reported 1099 income that is due as business income tax + Social Security tax payments to the IRS.

Lights
10-25-2011, 03:30 PM
You are an independent contractor when you sign up for a cam site. Any of them. You are not an employee, you do not fill out a W-2. A 1099 is issued to independent contractors - cam models or construction workers. Streamate does not issue these because they are not US based, some cam sites do. However you are still an independent contractor regardless if you are issued a 1099 or not.

I've never had any cam site show on my credit report and I just got mine last week. I've been doing this for a very long time. The ONLY way it would show up is if you yourself listed "Streamate" on any application of any kind. Anything having to do with taxes WILL NOT show up on your credit report, unless of course you owe the IRS money. There is no reason that Streamate would show up in a credit report from Streamate's doing because you are NOT EMPLOYED BY STREAMATE. If you question this, just ask them. They will tell you the same I am.

Streamate is NOT going to withhold taxes for you, neither is a cam site that sends a 1099 such as MFC. It is YOUR responsibility to report your earnings on your taxes and pay any taxes due, REGARDLESS if you are issued a 1099 or not.

I'm not trying to debate with you or anyone else. Just telling you all what happened to me. I've only been camming on and off since January and have not payed any taxes yet that are camming related. I've never ever put that I work on streamate on any application or anything similar bc camming is my dirty little secret lol. Only my bf knows. But my credit report shows all the normal stuff like my previous address and my current address as well as my previous employer BUT my current employer says "Streammate". I was shocked to see it on there. Didn't really want for it to pull up on my credit report especially because in a few months I'm getting an apartment and a car so I didn't want for the people to pull up my credit, see that I work on streamate, and then judge me for it. Lameeeee!

Melonie
10-25-2011, 04:13 PM
^^^ most likely due to financial network computers picking up on Streamate being the source of regularly deposited checks or funds transfers to your account !

Laurisa
11-02-2011, 04:26 PM
The reason Deja Vu showed up on my credit report is because I listed that I was contracted with them when I applied for a credit card.

However, I called all three credit bureaus and informed them that I was a student and that there was an error and that I did NOT work with/for Deja Vu so they removed it for free and did not ask any more questions.

If you listed SM on a credit application of any kind then that's probably where it came from. Just putting "independent contractor" doesn't really work for credit cards and renting/mortgages.

Cam_Model_Jess
11-05-2011, 12:16 PM
I just went online to receive a copy of my credit report and under my current employer it says "Streammate". I didn't think that this information would show up on my credit report!

Oh my god. I have to check this out. I'm applying for a job and I had no idea anyone would be able to link me to them. I mean, I know that people can find out by seeing my face & when guys post videos of me online without my permission, someone could see that. But I didn't think there was really any official record out there. I filed my taxes as an independent contractor and there was no company name anywhere. The paychecks are in hubby's name.

I just got a new apartment and I told them that I'm unemployed and I put the Streamate income in my husband's name since SM allows you to list someone else on the checks. When I applied for a credit card, they didn't ask for proof of income, they just asked how much I make and issued the card. I haven't applied for any other credit since working for SM, so I guess I'll see what happens later on.

I just had a background check done for a professional license. The check was done by the state police and the FBI. I was cleared. They don't say what they're really looking for, but I do know that if they knew I am camming, there's no way they would give me this license.

I saw a thread somewhere on here that said you can be issued a number to stand in place of your SSN when working for cam sites. Does anyone know how to go about getting that? And do you think I'd have to open a new account with SM in order to switch to using this instead of my SSN? I've been thinking that I should do that anyway, and then this thread really gave me pause. Also, I'm worried about the mention of future 1099s. I know SM does NOT issue a 1099 so I didn't get one last year obviously, but if they're going to suddenly decide to issue them this year, then I don't want to be surprised by that.

Although... I'm not sure if it would matter which number I'm using. If they give me a 1099, I'm still going to have to use it to do my taxes, and the company name will still be on the taxes and connected to me. Would circumventing the use of SSN here really do me any good?

I'm sorry if this is too confusing to respond to. I'm just worried now that I read this thread. I always knew there was a risk in this job, and I accepted this risk. But I want to minimize it as much as possible. I would hate for my formal education to never lead to a career because of this.

ManyRoses
11-05-2011, 06:35 PM
Most credit reports and background cheques base your employment history on your tax returns, so theoretically, if you are an independent contractor, this will show up.

Excellent points from everyone - but on a slightly different note, mots people who are not involved with the adult industry would not automatically know what "streamate" is. Its not a name like My Free Cams (although even then, you would have to be aware of what cams are!!) - and I'm guessing that in terms of getting a car loan/mortgage/lease, no one is going to know, or even CARE. Seriously. The reason that they do credit checks is not to see how "moral" your employment is - its to see if you are consistently employed, and if you have money. Most people won't even LOOK at company names, as long as they see that you are employed and earning.

Background checks are similar - they are checking that you are telling the truth on your resume. If you list it, or even just list "online sales/marketing" as a second job, anyone checking it out will see the name of a company they have never heard of, matching dates you gave, and just think "well, that must be the online sales company. Next item..."

While it is a valid concern, I think that most of us freak out about seeing things like "streamate" or "clips4sale" coming up on paperwork and forget that these words mean NOTHING to your average vanilla worker.

Case in point - when I was asking my bank to release the hold on my cheques from SM, I was in repeatedly, and every time I had a cheque, I would explain that it was a new employer and I was trying to get the holds removed. No one even blinked at the company name. In fact, my usual teller (who is lovely and friendly) asked what it was, and what I was doing. I was honest (I couldn't care less) and he looked totally surprised, and said "Oh, I would never have thought thats what it was". Seriously girls - most people don't know what a "streamate" is.

GlamourRouge
11-05-2011, 07:25 PM
Most credit reports and background cheques base your employment history on your tax returns, so theoretically, if you are an independent contractor, this will show up.

Excellent points from everyone - but on a slightly different note, mots people who are not involved with the adult industry would not automatically know what "streamate" is. Its not a name like My Free Cams (although even then, you would have to be aware of what cams are!!) - and I'm guessing that in terms of getting a car loan/mortgage/lease, no one is going to know, or even CARE. Seriously. The reason that they do credit checks is not to see how "moral" your employment is - its to see if you are consistently employed, and if you have money. Most people won't even LOOK at company names, as long as they see that you are employed and earning.

Background checks are similar - they are checking that you are telling the truth on your resume. If you list it, or even just list "online sales/marketing" as a second job, anyone checking it out will see the name of a company they have never heard of, matching dates you gave, and just think "well, that must be the online sales company. Next item..."

While it is a valid concern, I think that most of us freak out about seeing things like "streamate" or "clips4sale" coming up on paperwork and forget that these words mean NOTHING to your average vanilla worker.

Case in point - when I was asking my bank to release the hold on my cheques from SM, I was in repeatedly, and every time I had a cheque, I would explain that it was a new employer and I was trying to get the holds removed. No one even blinked at the company name. In fact, my usual teller (who is lovely and friendly) asked what it was, and what I was doing. I was honest (I couldn't care less) and he looked totally surprised, and said "Oh, I would never have thought thats what it was". Seriously girls - most people don't know what a "streamate" is.

Some jobs care, some jobs won't, but almost all employers will move on to the next candidate if something looks suspicious. Like if you failed to mention something & it showed up on a background check.

Cam_Model_Jess
11-05-2011, 07:52 PM
I just moved and just got a new account at a credit union a couple months ago. They wanted to keep holding the checks until next month, but it all depended on which teller I got. Now, my husband's name is on all the checks not mine, but I often do the banking. One time I got a rookie teller and an older teller walked over, looked at the check, looked at me and said, "Oh, I know who he is and what he does. He brings checks in every week. You don't need to hold it." That freaked me out a little bit. I have no idea what that was all about, but I assume she looked it up online so she would feel more comfortable about making a decision not to hold out-of-country checks.

However, I'm just wondering about what shows up in background checks and how to make it less conspicuous b/c in my other profession, it would definitely be frowned upon. For example, if you're a daycare worker or young adult soccer coach (I'm not, but I'm just using an example), parents might have an issue with you being a cam model. My situation is similar to that. I knew the risk when I got into it. I'm just wondering about ways to make it less likely that someone will find out when I go to apply for a job. I did not put this job on my resume; however, I didn't formally quit my last job until I moved (even tho I wasn't taking hours there) so that I could put that on my resume and there wouldn't be an employment gap. Now the only gap is after moving and I can just say that I'm doing internet marketing, customer service or whatever.

Amydoll19
11-06-2011, 08:26 AM
I'm the OP of this thread....
and I have to say, when I first looked into doing Caming I didn't realize that the vast majority of cam sites are based overseas, NOT in America.
So ....as such, if we're not issued a 1099 then I don't see how Streamates (or any other cam site we would work for) would pop up in an Employment check.
If we list ourselves as doing "Independent Contract" work on our taxes....fine. We don't have to write down what it is specifically. So how would anyone know?
And as ManyRoses mentioned....most "vanilla folks" won't even know what Streamates IS!
If it ever DID come up, and a future employer asked, we could always say we did some affiliate marketing work freelance.
I agree with ManyRoses....I think most employers just want to make sure you have a solid, steady working history.
So I'm not going to worry too much about it at this point.

sweetsam
11-06-2011, 08:28 AM
I have been camming for 4 years, and in the beginning of this year I was hired at a private investigation firm to do canvassing work. They did an extensive background check on me, and it took about a month to get hired. I ended up hating the position though so I didn't stay long.
They did ask about two things that came up, something from my credit, and something else that I could easily explain because it was a fucked up thing that happened, but anyways they understood, they just needed to know what it was about. Nothing work related was ever brought up.

audreyjanexo
11-14-2011, 11:11 AM
Just got a vanilla job, so I had to go through a background check. I was nervous as hell to get the results, but everything's in order. Nothing cam related was recorded. ;D