Was the guy who interviewed you named Felix?
With regards to payment for the professional shoot, I wouldn't
exactly call it a scam. Ask yourself this, are you an experienced
model or do you have previous modelling experience? If you do not,
then you can't expect others to fork out money for your first.
There's no free lunch in the world.
However, if you paid for the photoshoot and all but yet do not
get job castings or maybe hear from them once or twice in a month,
then I guess you can call it a scam.
Few more things. Do you intend to go into this line full time?
Do you have the height, body and face for it? Can you post a
picture of yourself for us (kidding about this one)?
Full time local models get very little chances in this industry.
If you're lucky, you'll get 2 castings in a day. And by casting, I
don't mean assignments. You'll still have to go through the
client's selection. Think about those guys whom you've seen over
there. Do you think that you're better than them? Besides, they're
just a handful of the many guys out in the industry. If you cannot
even beat them, then do not expect to survive far.
Let's not even talk about modelling as a part time job. Unless
you're damn good looking, skip the idea. It probably isn't worth
your time and effort.
Alternatively, you could look at it this way. If you do not get
assignments after the photoshoot, at least you'll get to keep the
photos of yourself. Keep it as a reminder of how good-looking you
are as compared to the 40 - 50 year old you. I'm sure the photos
would be professionally done, at the very least.
As for the modelling courses, it really does help in one way or
another. They train you to carry yourself well, your basic grooming
and basically just boost your self-confidence. In a way, you are
paying $200 to improve yourself as a person. Does not sound like a
scam to me.
To sum things up, if you're not good looking, then don't
consider modelling as an option for you. You'll be eaten up by the
competition eventually.