The advertisement on Telegram offers something unique. For those who want to work independently without models for videos, contact me,” it says, promising Asian and European female models available in English, Russian, and Turkish.
But this isn’t a casting call for a commercial. It is a recruitment ad for the pig butchering scam industry, posted on a Telegram fraud channel and aimed at solo operators who want to run romance scams without the overhead of a full compound operation.
As Cambodia cracks down on scam compounds, perhaps the industry is fragmenting into tens and thousands of independent scammers that just rent their models.
Be Your Own Boss
The ad, which appeared across many of the top Telegram channels frequented by scammers, offers voice recording and video shooting services on a monthly subscription basis.
It promises social media resources to help scammers build fake platforms and gain followers. “All you need are two phones and a computer,” the post reads. “You can be your own boss.
The Telegram handle directs users to a Chinese-language channel labeled “代打视频模特,” which translates to “substitute video model.” The service sells access to real women who will appear on video calls with victims, making the scam far more convincing than AI-generated faces or stolen photos.
The Gig Economy Meets Organized Crime
The concept of “models for hire” in fraud is not new. I have documented many cases of “Real and AI Face Models” offering their services for as much as $6,000 a month to scam bosses.
What makes this new ad different is its target audience. Rather than recruiting for a scam compound, it markets directly to independent operators. It is the franchise model applied to romance fraud. A lone scammer working from a bedroom can now rent a convincing human face by the month, complete with voice and video capabilities.
Crackdowns May Be Changing The Landscape
The timing of these advertisements are interesting. The scam industry has been concentrated in massive compounds in Cambodia and Myanmar where workers are often trafficked to run the operations
But recent crackdowns in Cambodia and US sanctions and the Huione Group have increasingly pushed the scammers toward a more distributed model.
Independent operators, working from their apartments across the globe are going to be much harder to track than a single compound.
