Sent to Indonesia by a Fake Film Executive? The F.B.I. Wants to Talk to You

Yes, I agree with the comments that point out how utterly incomplete this story is: where is the big gain for the fraudsters? A cut of what marks pay for drivers in Indonesia doesn't seem to make it worth it. Where is the gain?

Harvey Weinstein, Bill O'Reilly, others, plus this, the allure of the entertainment industry seems to hold no bounds.

The tactics described in this article are not limited to the entertainment industry. They also apply to free-lance technical talent. I have accepted similar proposals to work overseas as an engineering consultant. Most worked out just fine; but others were obviously trying to take advantage of me. This problem can happen anywhere. Here in the United States another common scam is for a big company to destroy a consulting practice by hiring the consultant under the condition he invest in very expensive equipment or software development tools up-front, and then fire him or her after a week or two (and left holding the bag for start-up expenses). This happened to me with a local company who hired me to work on electronic security devices used in U.S. and foreign passports. In another case I was left holding the bag for my time and travel expenses, by a British defense company doing radar work on the Isle of Wight. In that case, the defense company seemed to think I was doing defense work, and (apparently) took it upon themselves to punish me (but only after I finished the job). I reminded them that I was not Gerald Bull doing work for the Iraq defense establishment, and only worked on commercial gear that does not appear on the ITAR list. If it is a new client, my recommendation is to require the hiring company to pay hotel bills directly and to leave the airline ticket on will-call at the ticket counter. That way if the deal sours right away, you only loose your time.

Perhaps the fraudster is just doing this for kicks.

I bet this scheme is run by individuals who are not Indonesian. Ponimayu?

"In other cases, the losses have extended to $150,000 for those who made multiple trips to Indonesia and believed they were deeply involved in projects that later proved to be nonexistent." I am afraid the article does a terrible job of explaining how and/or why someone would be lead to believe they were 'deeply involved in a project' to the extent one would be enticed to make 'multiple trips' to the other side of the world. If not for other posters here (h/t Jay Rose) information on the profit motive for the scammers would be completely missing. Given the information offered here, how someone would shell out $150k is beyond all reason!

From the FBI's news release (follow links from the NYT article): ---- While in Indonesia, the victims are met by a pre-arranged driver and are pressured into providing U.S. currency for their services that greatly exceeds the normal rate. The victims are convinced to continue to provide further sums of U.S. currency until the trip is completed or they realize they are the victim of a scam. The victims are not reimbursed for the cost of the travel, the money provided to the drivers, or the cost of their services while in Indonesia. ---- That, apparently, is their business model. Since the initial solicitations don't cost them anything, even a small return is pure profit to be split.

I spent over a decade living in Indonesia- and working in the oil patch. This is the strangest scam I have heard where only victims spend money but no scamster actually collects anything except may be laughs. And believe me, Indonesia has seen scams - from a fake gold discovery, oil exploration blocks, palm oil plantations and even speculation in it's own currency. Why FBI would want to investigate it - is beyond me when it has enough on its plate. Indonesian entertainment industry - at least 2 decades back during my time - was heavily controlled by folks who had ties to Bollywood. The cinetron - TV soap operas - are a big industry but not so much films. So, these folks getting duped - they must be hurting for work - to spend their own money looking for work in Indonesia. All very strange indeed - may be a good story to turn into a blockbuster. Cone to think of it - I will put out a call for actors and actresses.

I worked in the film and tv industry for 32 years and was a member of the Directors Guild. Never was I asked to travel anywhere by paying my way upfront with promises of reimbursement. Union regulations, whether DGA, SAG, WGA, or IATSE require us to be given hard copy confirmation of pre-paid travel costs. Perhaps the people who fell victim to these scams were woefully naive or perhaps they should have had union representation, and/or a better agent.

It's standard practice and in all contractual union agreements in the industry that if you are being offered a job and expected to travel to meet the party, either a short or long distance, the person or company offering the job arrange and pay for all travel up front. Everybody from the bottom to the top of the industry knows that. It's hard to understand how any professional would take on such expenses. There are no doubt people in the industry who are vulnerable and naive, and I'm sorry they were defrauded. Your story fails to explain what the purpose of luring someone to Indonesia would do for the impersonator. An airline ticket puts money in the pocket of an airline, not the impersonator. There must be be more this story than is written here.

I must be missing something, how is the fraudster benefiting? All the money appears to be going for travel costs. I am not understanding how anyone (other than the airlines, which while evil, are unlikely to be committing fraud) is benefiting from this.