KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Lisa from Blackpink was at the heart of a modelling scam that saw a Thai family cheated out of 8.7 million baht (RM1.12 million). The agent had promised an exclusive photoshoot for the family’s 11-year-old daughter with the Thai K-pop idol.
Khaosod English reported that the father, identified only as Mr. Tee, said his wife first met a woman named Ms. Namphueng through Facebook earlier this year and that the woman’s profile looked credible.
Namphueng claimed that Tee’s daughter could shoot a commercial with Lisa from Blackpink for a payment of 150,000 baht but a deposit of 75,000 baht was required.
It was reported that Namphueng claimed to run a talent agency that recruits actors for commercials and TV dramas. She managed to convinced the family that she could help their 11-year-old daughter break into the entertainment industry.
Initially, the family had to pay 17,000 baht for acting lessons with a promise that commercial appearances would soon follow. After transferring the money, Namphueng told the family that their daughter had been selected to shoot a commercial for a well-known yogurt brand. They took their daughter to the shoot, which appeared legitimate with other participants present.
Since payment was received for the photoshoot a month later, the family then signed up their 10-year-old daughter for the acting class as well.
This continued with Namphueng offering various business opportunities, but each with an upfront payment of a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of baht, Khaosod reported.
The family realised that they had been cheated when the shoot with Lisa did not materialised.
It was revealed that by then, they had transferred a total of 8,734,000 baht in 42 transactions to Namphueng. They even borrowed over 2 million baht from relatives.
Yesterday, Tee sought the help of a social volunteer organisation “Sai Mai Tong Rod” (Sai Mai Must Survive), Khaosod stated.
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 Namphueng’s Facebook page was still actively scouting for actors.
