Actress Hong Huifang alerts fans to fake ad showing her and daughter
Veteran local actress Hong Huifang has urged fans not to be taken in by a fake advertisement purportedly featuring her and her actress-daughter Tay Ying.
Hong, 62, shared it on Instagram on Monday, with a red cross and the word “fake” on the image.
“Another unscrupulous merchant stole (our) photos to promote products,” she wrote. ”We did not endorse this product. Don’t believe it. Don’t buy it. Don’t use it.”
Hong, who was nominated for Best Leading Actress for Ajoomma (2022) at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards in November 2022, told Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao on Monday that this photo of her and Tay, 26, has been misused several times, including for weight-loss products.
Hong said the photo was used for a health product promotion in a paid partnership in 2022, but some merchants replaced the product held by her in the photo with their own products.
“We cannot even enter their Facebook as we have been blocked by these unscrupulous merchants,” she said. “Our fans sent the photo to us after seeing it.”
Hong said she used to remind her fans about such scams on Instagram Stories after coming across similar fake ads, but the contents would disappear after 24 hours.
“I decided to explain it clearly on IG this time as I hope everyone will not be duped by it,” she added.
Due to several reports and advisories on scams recently, Hong said she is very careful herself, especially when she buys items from overseas online.
She said she will not click on links that accompany unknown text messages saying her item has arrived at the local post office.
“Once, I received a message on the third day after making an order, but I dared not click (on the link) and treated it as the item had not arrived,” she said. “It turned out that the message sent on the fifth day was the real one.”
Last week, it was reported that local actress-host Michelle Chong made a police report after many were duped into paying for a weight-loss product advertised on social media which falsely featured her as its ambassador.
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