BANGKOK — A family from Phrae Province has revealed that they were defrauded of 8.7 million baht, or around 240,000 dollars, by a fake modeling agency. The agency had convinced them that their 11-year-old daughter would shoot a commercial with Lisa from Blackpink, a Thai K-pop superstar.
On July 30, Mr. Tee, the father, traveled from Phrae, Northern Thailand to seek help from the social volunteer organization “Sai Mai Tong Rod” (Sai Mai Must Survive). He said the scam began when his wife met a woman named Ms. Namphueng through Facebook earlier this year. Ms. Namphueng’s profile seems credible, so they continued to communicate with each other.
Ms. Namphueng claimed to run a talent agency that recruits actors for commercials and TV dramas, and convinced the family that she could help her 11-year-old daughter enter the entertainment industry. On May 16, she told them they would have to pay 17,000 baht for acting lessons and promised that commercial appearances would follow.
Mr. Tee explained that after transferring the money, before her daughter could start acting classes, Ms. Namphueng contacted them again to say that her daughter had been selected to shoot a commercial for a well-known yogurt brand on May 25 at a studio in Bang Yai, Nonthaburi. They took their daughter to the shoot, which appeared legitimate and was attended by other participants.
A month later, they received a payment of 19,000 baht for their daughter’s participation, which reinforced their belief in the legitimacy of the program. This prompted them to pay for additional acting lessons for their younger, 10-year-old daughter.
Ms. Namphueng continued to offer various business opportunities, each requiring an upfront payment of a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of baht. Confident of the promised return, the family repeatedly transferred the required amounts.
Finally, Ms. Namphueng claimed that his daughter would shoot a commercial with Lisa Blackpink, with a payment of 150,000 baht, but demanded a deposit of 75,000 baht. She affirmed her close relationship with Lisa and assured that the whole family could participate.
The family then traveled from Phrae to Bangkok and stayed in a hotel from 11 July. But Mrs. Namphueng kept delaying the trip, so they realized that they had been cheated. Over time, they had transferred a total of 8,734,000 baht in 42 transactions and borrowed over 2 million baht from relatives.
In a final attempt to contact Ms. Namphueng promised to return the money on 28 July, but has been unreachable since.
Ekapop Luangprasert, the founder of the site “Sai Mai Tong Rod”, said he would accompany the victims to file a complaint with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB). He believes there could be more victims as Ms. Namphueng’s Facebook page was still soliciting actors for ads on 26 July.
During a press conference, Ms. Namphueng contacted Mr. Tee and promised to begin refunding some of the money on August 1, but did not guarantee a full refund. She also claimed that the tickets for the girl to fly to Korea with Lisa for the commercial would be arranged and that she would keep him informed. However, the family no longer trust her and plan to take legal action.
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