I have decided to post a warning to foreigners in Kunming about a Chinese woman who has been operating here for quite some time now, after hearing from a friend who was recently cheated out of 10,000 kuai by her(!!!). This con-artist's English name is Jasmine. She trawls the cafes and bars where foreigners hang out looking for people to do modeling and acting gigs and promises good pay. When the job is finished, she either pays much less than promised or not at all and disappears under the rock she crawled out from under until the next time she needs someone to defraud. She has cheated me and several people I know personally in the last two years in Kunming. You can link to her photo here: www.flickr.com/photos/39772445@N00/5725919814/

You've been warned!

Suggest you and your modeling buddies file a police report - unless you're here under non-working visas - in which case she knows she can cheat you with no legal repercussions.

Ah Jasmine,

A friend and I ALMOST fell for her scheme several years ago when she offered 300 yuan for what she promised would be around 3 hours work as an extra in a tv show. Seemed like it might be fun and the pay for the time seemed ok. 8 hours into shooting we heard the director tell someone else that there was probably another 8 hours of shooting left. That's 16 hours not 3. When we asked her for more money as the shooting time was 13 hours longer than what she had promised, she replied that she had told us the job payed 300 per day and that she hadn't been guaranteeing how long it would take so we weren't entitled to any more money. To complicate things the shoot location was about an hour outside of kunming.

Luckily we had already appeared prominently in a few shots before we approached her and they needed more close-ups of us later, if they switched actors half-way through it wouldn't have looked right and they would have lost the earlier shots so we started threatening to leave unless we got 100 yuan per hour for our time. It took a lot of arguing and one other extra actually left the set so she got scared and paid us what we asked. We got home at 9am after shooting all night.

Never again.

Jasmine... I think most foreigners that have lived in Kunming for a while know her. However I don't know a Chinese or Western man, woman or animal that actually like her. I have spent quite a lot of time with her and I would never, ever work with her again. If you want to work with modeling Chen Chen is much better. She will at least treat you with respect.

Wow, I remember this woman confronting me several years ago...is she still making the rounds these days? I remember smelling something fishy and avoided her like the plague...some guys at the table next to us bit and took the bait. I wonder if that's some of you? It was also for a TV show if I remember correctly.

I have known Jasmine for quite some time, and have done some acting work for her on several occasions. She's always paid me correctly in the end. Sometimes it took some time and discussion before we got paid the correct amount, but that was mostly because of misunderstandings and things that she had no control over.

I know many people have had problems with her, but I also know from experience she's not a con artist. I don't think she will willingly cheat people. She just doesn't always know much about the jobs she's offering, and sometimes ends up in situations like the one Krismoonpie described.

The people she has to get paid from aren't always very correct, and like to change the terms of the job at will (as I have experienced first hand when I had to renegotiate with some of them when the job was almost done). This will often put her in a tough position.

So I would say she's very unprofessional rather than call her a con artist. But then, we're in China so what's new about that?

I don't know what exactly happened in your case or your friend's (since you basically didn't tell anything about it), but I can imagine the words 'fraud' and 'theft racket' are at least a bit of an exaggeration.

I'm not saying you or your friend are lying, I just think you shouldn't write about people the way you do without at least some facts and information. Otherwise it's just slander.

So at best she's unprofessional, ignorant, rude, obtrusive and not entirely truthful. Not an ideal talent agent.

Sounds like the perfect profile for a manager in some ESL companies (not all).
But as Sirlou points out, TIC so what is new. I have met the type before. It all goes wrong and truth goes out the window as face kicks in, add to that the fear of losing money (that they don't have).

someone's said seems didn't via brain.or he really don't know the work.

300RMB is not a agent can decide.it's producer fix the price.they are boss who pay money.

besides,last year,when the Tv play start shooting,an useless lady agent involved.she can't speak English,she ask some friendly foreigner help her find foreigner.when the producer tell her 300RMB a day,she didn't try to negociate with producer.because she havent any experience about foreign extra.

when I start work for this Tv play,the price fixed already.difficult change,althought I know many foreigner not satisfy for this price.
it's makes my work so difficult.

as you know the director decide need more time for shooting after we already at set.how I can know before? you think I am god?

suggest you improve your Chinese,and make you more handsome,and practice acting skill,and learn treat everyone nice,take few years,when you become a femous professional actor.you can get 8000RMB a day.this price is the Japanese actor acting in the Tv play last year.he come to China over 8 years.professional actor,speak Chinese very well,handsome,and very polite to everyone at set.
if you make everyone have work with you likes you,will have more acting opportunity ask you acting,so your price will higher more!

many femous actor,before he become femous,have same situation as you in many many years!low price,long time.acting died people,can't move,even if someone beat you.jump in ice lake in cold winter,wear winter clothes in hot summer....

not knowing either of the parties in this...

i'm with jasmine. this is china. promises are generally

regarded as maybe's. time is not a precious commodity.
"mashang" means "when i get around to it." and with an
agent you get two layers of "culture."

i suggest you guys complaining get real, legitimate jobs. you're

not cut out for work involving agents here OR in the west.

also suggest OP remove the linked picture.