Father loses 8.7 million baht in fake modelling agency scam

[webfact]

A father from Phrae province sought help from Sai Mai Must Survive after being scammed by a fake modelling agency that claimed his daughter would star in an advertisement alongside Lisa from BLACKPINK. He transferred money 42 times, totalling over 8.7 million baht.

 

The victim recounted that earlier this year his wife got acquainted with a woman called Namphueng through Facebook. Namphueng presented herself as a talent scout for advertisements and TV dramas. Her convincing profile led the family to believe she could truly help their 11 year old daughter break into the entertainment industry.

 

On May 16, he contacted Namphueng, who requested a payment of 17,000 baht for acting classes, promising future advertising gigs. After transferring the money, before the daughter even attended the classes, Namphueng invited her to an advertisement shoot for a famous brand of sour milk at a studio in Bang Yai, Nonthaburi, on May 25.

 

Upon attending the shoot, the father observed a genuine production with other participants. Approximately one month later, he received a payment of 19,000 baht, reinforcing his trust in the scheme. Encouraged, he paid for additional acting classes for his 10 year old daughter.

Namphueng continued to propose various advertisement opportunities, each time requiring a different amount for a security deposit, ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of baht. Convinced by the previous payment, the father continued to transfer money.

On one occasion, Namphueng claimed she would arrange for the daughter to star in an advertisement alongside Lisa from BLACKPINK, promising a payment of 150,000 baht but requiring a 75,000 baht deposit. She even claimed to be close to Lisa, assuring the family they could all join the shoot.

 

The fraud

 

This promise led the family to travel from Phrae to Bangkok, where they checked into a hotel on July 11.

 

Namphueng kept postponing, raising suspicion. Over time, the father realised he had been deceived, having transferred a total of 8.734 million baht, including borrowing over 2 million baht from relatives. Despite the fraud, Namphueng continued to post on Facebook seeking actors for advertisements.

 

The father contacted Namphueng, who promised to return all the money by July 28 but has since been unreachable. Ekaphop Luangprasert, the founder of the Sai Mai Must Survive group, stated that they would assist the victim in filing a complaint with the police. He believes there are likely more victims. Namphueng’s Facebook page was still active as of July 26, continuing to recruit actors.

 

Namphueng later called the victim, promising to start refunding some money on August 1 but did not guarantee full repayment. Regarding the tickets for a supposed advertisement shoot in South Korea with Lisa from BLACKPINK, she claimed to be coordinating the details and would provide updates periodically, reported Khaosod.

 

by of Sarishti Arora
Picture courtesy of Zanyar Ibrahim from unsplash.com

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-07-31

 

-  Cigna offers a variety of health insurance plans designed to meet the minimum requirement for medical treatment coverage, with benefits reaching up to THB 3 million. These plans are tailored to provide comprehensive healthcare solutions for expatriates, ensuring peace of mind and access to quality medical services. To explore the full range of Cigna's expat health insurance options and find a plan that suits your needs, click here for more information.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

[Gsxrnz]

Honey really got the money. 

[brianthainess]

Sending money to anyone on Facebook well what can one say 42 times ! Put your bloody phones down, do some research at least,  nearly 9 million !  Honestly ! Thais seem to be easily Scamed. Ps you don't get paid for a photo shoot, unless they use the photos TTBOMK.

[Gottfrid]

24 minutes ago, webfact said:

Over time, the father realised he had been deceived, having transferred a total of 8.734 million baht, including borrowing over 2 million baht from relatives.

So, I think he should stick to farming. Normally people get paid for modelling jobs, not have to pay. I must also give him a star for being so observant, that he already knew he had been deceived after only paying 6,7 million and another additional 2 million of borrowed money. That´s amazing!

[ikke1959]

My first question is where does the money from him and his family come from ??? He is young as his daughters are 10 and 11..... And all for nothing because Lisa is only famous in Thailand

[Celsius]

I could also arrange a shoot with Lorenzo from Blackpig for a mere 2000 baht.

[Will B Good]

A fool and his money......

 

We had a load of staff scammed a few years ago by Americans (not really relevant) who were travelling around Europe claiming to look for footballing talent and offering big contracts as football (soccer?) was taking off big time in the US.

 

You just had to pay £2000 per child upfront to cover the cost of the trials......a lot paid up in the hope their little cherubs would be the next Messi.

[retarius]

If it is too good to be true, it generally is. This is what really worries me is about my wife. She is forever coming to me with poo from the internet advertising this or that miracle cure or this or that stupid investment. I will leave her quite handsomely off and have taken some steps to ward off the family clutches, basically making them have to sue her paying for a lawyer if they want anything....but I am worried about her gullibility. I'd like to have some sort of trust, but who can you trust to be a trustee in Thailand with notoriously corrupt lawyers and grasping immoral family?

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

My first question is where does the money from him and his family come from ???

What is the relevance of that to anything and how is it anyone's business but theirs?

[Woof999]

2 hours ago, Celsius said:

I could also arrange a shoot with Lorenzo from Blackpig for a mere 2000 baht.

 

Not without going though me buddy. As of an hour ago, I'm Lorenzo's sole agent.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Namphueng continued to propose various advertisement opportunities, each time requiring a different amount for a security deposit, ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of baht. Convinced by the previous payment, the father continued to transfer money

Berk.

[ronster]

42 !!! 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

So, I think he should stick to farming. Normally people get paid for modelling jobs, not have to pay. I must also give him a star for being so observant, that he already knew he had been deceived after only paying 6,7 million and another additional 2 million of borrowed money. That´s amazing!

 

" Normally people get paid for modelling jobs, not have to pay." True but in this industry in Thailand (and many other countries) the fail to pay rate is very high.

[Presnock]

4 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Sending money to anyone on Facebook well what can one say 42 times ! Put your bloody phones down, do some research at least,  nearly 9 million !  Honestly ! Thais seem to be easily Scamed. Ps you don't get paid for a photo shoot, unless they use the photos TTBOMK.

My daughter worked as a model for the first 10 years of her life, doing shoots with stars, participating in shows at Muong Thong Thani, tv series, minor movie role (though credited at the end of the movie), newspapers, magazines, etc and we NEVER had to pay any deposit for any payment.  Once daughter got bored with modeling we dropped it but occasionally still get calls for her to do something but not interested.

[brianthainess]

15 minutes ago, Presnock said:

NEVER had to pay any deposit for any payment. 

But you still had to pay them, I thought the Models got paid ? But you pay for first Photo shoot.

[klauskunkel]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Namphueng claimed she would arrange for the daughter to star in an advertisement alongside Lisa from BLACKPINK, promising a payment of 150,000 baht but requiring a 75,000 baht deposit

a deposit maybe required to retain a photographer, but there is no such practice for models to secure their place in a photo shoot, one could find this out, but it would require to use the smartphone for something different than Facebook, and that's really hard...

[NativeBob]

well-known scam. Modelling schools, agency "tips" etc. There are still idiots that believe modelling biz works this way. 

Nope, there's another way ...

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, ronster said:

42 !!! 🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈

Certainly the meaning of some Nigerian's life

[Presnock]

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

But you still had to pay them, I thought the Models got paid ? But you pay for first Photo shoot.

That is not true at least for us.  

[brianthainess]

2 minutes ago, Presnock said:

That is not true at least for us.  

WHAT your daughter didn't get paid ? then you got Scammed you paid out money and got Zero back, yep Scammed. 

[Presnock]

Just now, brianthainess said:

WHAT your daughter didn't get paid ? then you got Scammed you paid out money and got Zero back, yep Scammed. 

well suggest you re-read my comments in ENGLISH, as I said we never paid for any shootings and we got paid when she did the shootings and that included the first photo shoot too.  I would never pay anyone for their adverstisement photos nor for my daughter to be included in a movie or tv series.  I lived a long time before I decided to retire here and I have never fallen for an scheme, especially one in which they even wanted something paid in advance.

[Nick Carter icp]

1 hour ago, Presnock said:

My daughter worked as a model for the first 10 years of her life, doing shoots with stars, participating in shows at Muong Thong Thani, tv series, minor movie role (though credited at the end of the movie), newspapers, magazines, etc and we NEVER had to pay any deposit for any payment.  Once daughter got bored with modeling we dropped it but occasionally still get calls for her to do something but not interested.

 

   You Daughter must be amazingly pretty and very special to be turning down modelling work at her age 

[metisdead]

A troll post trolling about Trump has been removed. 

[steven100]

I love it when Thais get taken by other Thais .....   makes my day.  

 

Poor papa ....   you shouldn't have trusted Thai or Facebook.  

 

 

 

[Presnock]

23 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   You Daughter must be amazingly pretty and very special to be turning down modelling work at her age 

Absolutely is very pretty, tall and slender - on the Chula dance team.  Once she said that she was bored with modeling, even though the agents continued to call for shootings without even having to test shots as the originators of the ads wanted her based on her pictures.  But, we do listen to her wants and desires too.  She could be in the US at a college (already accepted with scholarships) but she opted to get her degree here at the #1 college in Thailand since she is doing an a foreign language (korean) and culture degree and self taught to date has tested in the Korean govt world wide test at the 4 level and is in Seoul now studying Korean language for which she plans on a masters degree at the number 1 college in Korea.  She also taught Chinese at a different HS while she was an 11th grader, speaks Thai and English of course at the native level.  Had AP computer course and high math tests too at a credited International School.  Bright and beautiful and I am really proud of her and of course I am prejudist but totally support her in whatever she needs/wishes.

[steven100]

3 hours ago, retarius said:

but I am worried about her gullibility. I'd like to have some sort of trust, but who can you trust to be a trustee in Thailand with notoriously corrupt lawyers and grasping immoral family?

 

 exactly,   This is the problem with Thailand,  all your money will be divided up, gone, spent in no time ....  it's a dishonest persons paradise.  I trust zero here,  not even my 7-11 cashier.  

 

 

[Gottfrid]

5 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

My first question is where does the money from him and his family come from ??? He is young as his daughters are 10 and 11..... And all for nothing because Lisa is only famous in Thailand

Oh dear! Do you consider 8 million baht a lot of money. I made my first dollar million at the age of 20.

[BobBKK]

10 or 11, the article can't seem to decide. That aside sounds like starstruck madness.

[BakedPanda]

The IQ levels here are so worrying low, it is like they are all autistic 

[spidermike007]

Alot of people just do not understand how corrosive, damaging, degrading and nasty social media can be. There are an infinite number of scammers, predators and fraudsters out there. Most of us have the good sense to avoid them, and not get taken in by their unwillingness to do actual work for a living. 

 

If it sounds too good to be true it likely is, and if it sounds too good to be true and you're seriously considering getting involved in sending money, do some research first, engage in self-preservation for yourself and your family, find out about these people that are asking for your money. More than likely you will then decide it wasn't real, and they criminals were trying to scam you, yet you were smart enough to not fall into their trap. 

 

It boggles the mind, to consider the number of people who fall for these scams. Someone calls you, or contacts you online, and you send them money? Someone you have never met? Someone you have not researched? What gives? Where are the survival instincts? 

 

And it is a strong indication of just how bent, warped and misguided contemporary culture and society is, that someone can be considered an idol or celebrity just because they have alot of followers on Tik tok, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 

 

Personally, I consider social media to be the most corrosive and degenerate force in culture today, and they can be downright dangerous, on multiple levels.