With the Internet making it more convenient for people to find love online, it can also be dangerous as you never know who you might really be talking to.
The Paper reported a love scam that a 28-year-old man from Hangzhou experienced. After 3 years of dating a girl he met online, he discovered it was actually a 46-year-old woman who was living with him.
A 28-year-old man in China, Lu (not his real name), met his girlfriend Yang (not her real name) through an online platform selling second-hand goods in September 2017.
At the start, Yang only asked Lu for help as she wanted to know how to tell if a product on sale was authentic. After several exchanges, they started dating.
In November, Yang told Lu she wanted to run away from home as she was being forced by her family to marry another man.
As Lu wanted to help, he travelled from Yangzhou to Fuyang city in Anhui province where Yang lived.
Though Lu stayed in Fuyang for a month, The Paper reported he was unable to meet Yang.
However, Yang’s ‘aunt’, Xu, showed up to tell him her family was no longer forcing Yang into an arranged marriage.
Since it was the New Year, Lu had to return home, though he continued to keep in contact with Yang.
In March 2018, Lu tried to visit Yang again but was unable to as she was allegedly being kept under strict supervision at home. Furthermore, she could only use her phone for a limited period of time.
Nonetheless, Yang told Lu that since her aunt Xu would be visiting Hangzhou in 2 months, Xu would be able to meet Lu and assess him as well.
As Yang believed this was a test for their relationship, he did not doubt Yang’s words.
When Xu reached Hangzhou in June 2018, she was greeted warmly by Lu, who wanted to get into her good books so she could help put in a few good words for him.
As Xu was unemployed, she started helping out at Lu’s secondhand store. Xu also acted as the middle man for Lu and Yang.
Xu informed Lu that since Yang had tried to run away from home, her family was even more strict. Hence, Xu had to arrange when the couple was able to call.
Additionally, whenever Lu was on a call with Yang, he would have to leave the house or go to the basement to prevent any misunderstandings.
Despite the strange request, Lu still did not suspect anything as he was simply happy with being able to hear Yang’s voice.
Within the 3 years the couple was together, Yang reportedly asked Lu to transfer money every month to save for their future wedding.
Since it seemed like Yang was already planning for their future together, Lu readily agreed.
Throughout the span of 3 years, Lu sent tens of thousands in RMB to Yang.
The love scam was exposed on 20 Aug this year when Lu helped Xu change her phone’s protective cover.
As Xu’s phone was unlocked, Lu looked through her chats and WeChat social media app. He found out Xu had been sweet-talking to other men in the same tone Yang used on him.
Since the situation seemed fishy to Lu, he decided to place a phone recorder in his house. Lu realised whenever he was on the phone with Yang, Xu would be on her phone too. Furthermore, whatever Xu was saying, Lu heard the same exact words from Yang.
To make sure there was no mistake, he recorded Xu again on 22 Aug.
This was when he found out Xu had been pretending to be Yang and stringing him along all these years.
When the truth was finally revealed, Lu decided to report the case to the police.
Upon investigating, Xu was called into questioning by the police.
Though she was silent at the start, she eventually confessed to her crimes as evidence mounted against her.
Xu admitted she had pretended to be Yang who does not exist. Unfortunately for Lu, all the money he transferred to Xu had already been spent.
The police also found that Xu had multiple WeChat accounts where she had different personas to trick other men into giving money to her.
Xu is being held by the police at the moment while they continue investigating her crimes.
We’ve seen multiple cases of love scams but this was particularly elaborate. Though it might seem absurd to some, there is always a possibility of people falling prey to them.
Hopefully, this serves as a lesson for everyone to be more vigilant when chatting with strangers on the Internet, especially when money is involved.
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Featured image adapted from The Paper.
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