MUAY THAI FIGHTERS: Two Muay Thai boxers from the famed Pinsinchai camp in Bangkok filed a police report yesterday after discovering their photos being used on a male prostitution site, allegedly, unbeknownst to them.
Yesterday afternoon, 19-year-old Teerawat “Somdech” Pinsinchai and 20-year-old Chaianan “Punmongkol” Pinsinchai met with investigators of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) in the the capital’s Chatuchak district to provide details of the crime.
The victims reportedly became aware of the catfishing scam on Tuesday afternoon when Teerawat’s twin brother, Teerapong “Samart” Pinsinchai, received a Facebook message from a stranger asking if he and Chaianan advertised sexual services on the male-on-male site, Gboysiam69, and bailed on interested clients, reported Thairath.
Of course, those photos belonged to his twin Teerawat, not Teerapong.
The interested stranger further explained that the two young victims had been blacklisted from the male-prostitution website for “tricking” users into wiring them money then ghosting immediately after, without ever providing the services that had supposedly been promised.
The stranger even sent Teerapong screenshots of their back-and-forth messages on LINE negotiating the price, which Teerawat and Chaianan claimed never happened.
“The profile picture is me but the username isn’t my name,” said Teerawat of the alleged imposter who used his picture and goes by the name “Ball.”
Chaianan explained that he had noticed a sudden influx of Facebook friend requests and decided to seek advice from his boxing club when he started receive angry messages accusing him of being a scammer.
An initial inspection by authorities traced the source of the fraudulent posting to an IP address outside of Thailand. Officials said they would contact Gboysiam69’s webmaster to inform them of the imposter as their investigations continue, reported Spring News.
Pol. Lt. Punnaporn Yingrengreung, sub-inspector of the TCSD, explained that such crimes are considered “defamation by publication” and violate section 328 of the Cyber Crime Act, which is punishable by a maximum of two years in prison and a fine not exceeding THB200,000 (about US$6,000).
Meanwhile, Teerawat told reporters that him and his fellow fighters at Pinsinchai club are proud to be professional boxers as it is an honest job that requires hard work, training and persistence. Boxers must make physical sacrifices to support their family, he said.
“I would never do anything like this,” Teerawat declared firmly.
