When hopelessly in love, some of us may be willing to do anything, including parting with large sums of money.
Unfortunately, what a Singaporean man thought was a gesture of love for his ‘Internet celebrity’ girlfriend proved to be that of betrayal when he learned that she was possibly just using him for his money.
After spending over S$30,000 on his Taiwanese lover who would “throw tantrums” if she felt that he didn’t give her enough, 41-year-old Mr Chen was devastated to find out that he wasn’t the only man who had been doing so.
Believing that they were victims of a scam, Mr Chen and the other men later reported the matter to the police.
According to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Chen, a salesperson in Singapore, first started following the female ‘Internet celebrity’ online sometime around 2020 to 2021.
In Nov 2021, the said celebrity began conducting live streams to interact with her fans.
Mr Chen thus initiated his first interaction with her and eventually received a reply two months later on 14 Jan 2022, which thrilled him greatly.
The ‘love story’ soon began with the two chatting online daily. The woman would apparently send him selfies and their relationship progressed quickly.
Later on, she became a host for a live shopping platform and invited Mr Chen to join the livestream and support her.
“She said the company wanted her to collect 100 gifts “filled with love”. If she failed to meet the target, she would not be able to continue being a host, so she hoped I could gift S$50 to her, ” Mr Chen told Shin Min Daily News.
Blinded by love, Mr Chen spent S$2,500 on gifts for her during her live broadcast. He also shared that the livestreams would go on from Monday to Friday and the amount of viewers jumped from 100 to over 2,400 over time.
After chatting constantly, the pair confirmed their relationship on 1 Mar.
The woman allegedly even sent a lengthy message confessing her love for him.
From that day onwards, on every 14th of the month, the woman would ask Mr Chen to send her gifts. If what he sent couldn’t match up with what her fans bought her on the livestreams, she would “throw tantrums”.
Because of these, Mr Chen reportedly ended up spending gifts on her that amounted to S$30,000.
Unfortunately, it was only until other fans contacted Mr Chen that he realised he was cheated on.
He later realised something was off when he noticed that the woman’s replies were incoherent.
Upon comparing the text messages with fans who were facing the same situation, including a 32-year-old man, he found that the messages sent by the woman were “exactly the same”. They were also sent at the same time.
The affected victims immediately filed a police report, hoping that the authorities will be able to look into the matter.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Shin Min Daily News understands that the woman was from Malaysia but later flew to Taiwan to develop her career.
Worryingly, Mr Chen pointed out that at the moment, there are five victims, three of whom are in Singapore and two in Malaysia and Korea.
The police reportedly confirmed with Shin Min Daily News that they have received the victims’ reports and are currently investigating the matter.
When it comes to love scams, victims often fall prey because they allegedly feel a strong and intimate connection. Due to the value of such a connection, they may feel compelled to help the other party out of love and compassion.
However, as it is with any online interaction, one should exercise caution when befriending strangers, let alone when giving money to them.
Hopefully, Mr Chen’s case can serve as a reminder for everyone to always remain alert, especially online, and be wary of potential scams.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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