Scammers behind the “click a button” app Ponzis are now targeting Chinese mainland actors and models.

Multiple cases over the past weeks detail Chinese nationals being lured to Thailand under false pretenses.

The most high-profile of the recent human trafficking kidnappings is Wang Xing (right).

Xing is a Chinese actor who was lured to Bangkok for a bogus casting call last week.

As
reported by The Independent
on January 9th;

The actor said he realised he was not in Thailand when the “armed people pushed me into the car”.

[Wang] was told there was a casting call in Thailand but was instead trained to scam other Chinese people

“There were about 50 people in the building that I was in. There were more in another building, and people came from different countries,” he said, adding that he was forced to practice typing for two to three days under high pressure.

“I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. And I didn’t even have the time to pee,” Mr Wang added.

Wang was rescued by Thai authorities on Tuesday but specifics have not been made public. If I had to guess, media coverage of Wang’s kidnapping likely led to a handover as Thai police don’t have jurisdiction in Myanmar.

A second case is under investigation following reports Chinese model Yang Zeqi (right), was kidnapped last month under similar circumstances.

The Weibo user, whose identity was verified by the social media platform, said Yang arrived in Bangkok on December 20 and lost contact with friends near the Myanmar border the next day.

Yang made a video call to his mother on December 29 in which he appeared to be in poor condition, with scars near his eyes, according to the post. The call ended shortly and his family has not been able to reach him since.

Chinese gangs behind the scam compounds targeting high-profile Chinese nationals marks a new chapter. Previously the gangs focused their abduction efforts in neighbouring south-east Asian countries.

The group of organized criminals behind the recent kidnappings are believed to be operating out of Myawaddy in Myanmar.

The Global Times
reports
a joint letter from families representing 174 trapped individuals is doing the rounds on social media.

A joint letter asking for help from the families of 174 individuals trapped in Myanmar has been trending on China’s social media platform Sina Weibo on Thursday.

In a group on WeChat the families established, the Global Times found a document containing information about their missing relatives including the age, origin, time, and routes of disappearance.

The document indicates that most of the missing persons are aged between 17 and 35 with men being the majority. The information reveals that the missing individuals have been unaccounted for, for a few months to three years.

After analyzing the document, the Global Times found that the missing relatives’ disappearance primarily follows two routes:

Some went missing after entering Myanmar near the Thai-Myanmar border, while others disappeared

🤖 Quick Answer

What is the "click a button" Ponzi scam targeting Chinese actors and models?
The "click a button" scheme involves app-based Ponzi operations in which scammers lure Chinese mainland actors and models to Southeast Asia under false pretenses, such as bogus casting calls. Victims, including high-profile actor Wang Xing, are trafficked to compounds in countries like Thailand and Myanmar, then coerced into defrauding other Chinese nationals.

How was Chinese actor Wang Xing kidnapped in the "click a button" Ponzi scheme?
Wang Xing traveled to Bangkok after receiving a fraudulent casting call invitation. Upon arrival, armed individuals forced him into a vehicle and transported him to a scam compound outside Thailand. He was held with approximately fifty other trafficking victims from multiple countries and trained to conduct phone and app-based scams targeting Chinese citizens.

**Why are Chinese actors and models

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