‘Too good to be true’: TikToker warns women about ad offering up to $12,000 for sexually suggestive photo shoots, Singapore News

Quality art comes at a price – but this TikToker has expressed doubts about whether what she was recruited to model for is even art.

A woman in Singapore posted a warning on TikTok after receiving an email inviting her to model for a sexually explicit photo shoot, she said in a video she uploaded to her TikTok on July 2.

Lai Yi Jing, 21, was contacted via an email address with the name Gavin Choo, who claimed to be a freelance photographer working on a “unique project” that required the use of models.

“He offered compensation of $8,000 for an indoor shoot, two hours, and it’s a clothed shoot,” the junior designer said in her video.

At this point, she felt it sounded too good to be true and approached Choo out of curiosity.

She asked for Choo’s portfolio, which he did not provide, but in his response he revealed that his photo shoot would have a sexual theme.

50 men will be involved in the shooting

However, as someone who respects art, Lai also accommodated the photographer’s wishes and continued to think about the details of the shoot, communicating her interest to Choo.

Choo then upped the ante: He told Lai that the entire compensation would be paid before filming and would amount to up to $12,000 for the two-hour shoot.

Lai was shocked by the higher pay and read more about the shoot, where she learned that the model had to wear a crop top and a tennis skirt.

And then there would be men involved performing a sexual act.

“He told me that there were 50 men involved in this shoot and to avoid overwhelm, five men would come into the studio at the same time and the model would just have to sit there and pose.”

Visibly upset about the shoot, Lai then issued a warning to all women out there: If they receive an email from Choo or anyone else asking them to take part in a similar photo shoot, they should think twice.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” she said.

Lai hopes the police will investigate the case

After uploading the video to TikTok, Lai told Today that she blocked Choo’s number and declined to participate in the shoot.

“These things happen, it’s not surprising because there are a lot of strange people out there,” she said, adding that she was “disgusted” that she – and other women – had to go through this ordeal.

She also told Today that she did not report the incident to the police because she felt it was pointless as the police could only give the man a warning.

However, Lai remained hopeful that police would investigate the case to determine whether the person who contacted her was the same person who had sent similar messages to other women in the past.

She added: “We never know if his next victim will actually fall for it, and who knows what would happen (then)?”

AsiaOne has contacted Lai for further information.

“More dangerous than it seemed”

Lai is not the first to receive such an offer – in the comments section of her post, many users reported that they had also received an invitation to a similar shoot.

“Bro, the same thing happened to me,” said one user.

Another commented: “I got the exact same email – the moment you said 50 men (I remembered it). But mine came via Telegram.”

Other users also reported their experiences with dubious photo shoots: “Once this photographer asked me if I wanted to do a shoot alone in a hotel room, but that was too shady, so I declined.”

In 2021, TikToker Valerie Tan also uploaded a post to the platform informing users about a similar incident.

A man had offered her $9,000 for a three-hour photo shoot via Instagram message, saying the photographer was looking for a model for a concept that was about the “juxtaposition of sperm and the beauty of the female form.”

“At first I thought it was just a weird photoshoot suggestion and shared it because it was funny,” she told AsiaOne.

However, she realized it was “more dangerous than it seemed” after nearly ten women commented and messaged her with similar requests.

“This is not actually a photo shoot. This guy is inviting you to do something like porn,” Tan said in the video.

Under the Anti-Unwanted Publications Act, a person who takes obscene photographs for the purpose of sharing or distributing them to others may be punished with a fine of up to $2,000 and/or imprisonment for up to two years.

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