Vera Kravtsova was 26 years old, from Minsk, Belarus. She worked as a freelance model and singer, moving between Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia pursuing her career. Early September 2025, she relocated to St. Petersburg to build on her international experience and land her next gig.

Finally an opportunity came through an online job posting for modeling work in Bangkok, Thailand. Everything about it looked professional and legit, so Vera responded and made arrangements to travel. On September 12, she landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

For eight days, everything proceeded as expected. Thai immigration records show her arrival and her presence in the city over several days. Shopping, traveling, etc. Then on September 20, she boarded a flight from Bangkok to Yangon, Myanmar. The neighboring country known for international organzied crimes. According to Thai authorities, she was processed through the airport's automated border control system all by herself with no escort or visible coercion. The CCTV footage confirmed this. She crossed the border willingly and alone.

Once in Yangon, details are vague and what happened next is still being investigated. But we do know, that all communication from Vera stopped. She went missing.

According to some Russian tabloids from mid-October, Vera was taken to a scam compound and forced to run romance scams. When she failed to meet targets, she was beaten and allegedly sold to an organ trafficking ring and her body was cremated. This has not been confirmed by any government authorities, but Vera’s family did receive messages demanding $500,000 for her ashes.

The Belarusian Ambassador called the trafficking claims "immoral and irresponsible."

Verifiable facts: Vera's family lost contact with her in early October. On October 16, they received a document claiming she died of a heart attack and was cremated. Everything between September 20 and early October remains contested.

BUT, what is internationally known, is that scam compounds and trafficking rings are a very real thing in Myanmar. Making the trafficking scenario plausible. Myanmar's scam compounds are extensively documented. Since the 2021 military coup, there are an estimated 100,000 people imprisoned in such compounds. These operations recruit internationally through job postings. The scammers advertise modeling gigs, IT roles, marketing positions, and they target educated young professionals exactly like Vera. Trafficked workers are sometimes sold for up to $20,000 each.

Whether Vera fell victim to this pipeline or died under different circumstances remains unclear. She responded to what looked like a real opportunity and disappeared in a region where tens of thousands have vanished under similar circumstances.

If you're considering international work through an online posting: verify the company through official channels and your country's embassy. Enable location sharing with trusted people. Don't pay anything upfront. Request video calls with company employees using company email addresses.

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