bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Yating Yang

A love scam which saw a woman in China conned out of 20 million yuan (US$2.8 million) by a man posing as the son of a wealthy family has sparked a discussion on mainland social media.
In December 2022, the woman, surnamed Jiang, met a man online who told her his name was Sun.
The would-be lover said he came from a prominent wealthy family and owned a private equity fund.
Initially sceptical, Jiang carried out rigorous background checks using her personal connections. All the information she gathered seemed to confirm the man’s claims.
With her trust in Sun strengthened, they established a committed relationship and planned to meet each other’s parents.

Sun even told her: “I will make more money during this period, then we can achieve financial freedom.”
He also boasted about his investment skills and how he had access to reliable insider information, persuading Jiang to register on an app he knew which was used for trading in digital currencies and foreign exchange.
After two successful trades and receipt of a generous US$990,000 from Sun, Jiang felt reassured and invested 20 million yuan, this time using her own cash and money from friends and family.
In January, a month after they first met online, a friend exposed inconsistencies in Sun’s story and when she could no longer access her money on the currency-trading app, Jiang realised she had been swindled.
She immediately called the police.
Investigations led to an accomplice, surnamed Li, a part-time online software developer who also worked on the currency trading app.
Li told the police he had simply complied with Sun’s demand that he improve features on the app.

In an attempt to defend himself, Li said: “I am just an employee. If I didn’t do it, someone else would. I couldn’t prevent the fraud from happening.”
It emerged that Li had made a profit of more than 80,000 yuan (US$11,000) from the scheme and he was sentenced to a year and 10 months in prison, with a probation period of two years and six months, plus a fine of 10,000 yuan.
Social media observers scoffed at Li’s defence: “Even drug dealers resort to the same defence; if the employer didn’t hire me, he would hire someone else.
“However, without your contribution, the crimes would not have proceeded so successfully. Your actions actually aided the crimes,” said one person.
While some lamented over Jiang’s loss, others expressed astonishment at her considerable wealth.
One observer said: “How could she have accumulated 20 million yuan with such limited intelligence?”
Online love scams, commonly known as “pig butchering” or sha zhu pan in Mandarin, are rampant in China.
In December 2022, a Shanghai woman was conned out of nearly 2 million yuan in a 12 year-long racket perpetrated by an old friend posing as a well-known TV news anchor.
In 2021, Beijing police busted an 18-person gang based in Myanmar who duped more than 50 victims across China out of nearly 10 million yuan.
A survey of 240 scam victims carried out by the Global Anti-Scam Organisation revealed that the average amount lost in such cases was US$98,000 and 70 per cent of the victims were women.


Disgraced top China banker Liu Liange married son’s girlfriend, causing his chronic depression

China table tennis Olympic champion sidelined at event, sparks fan outrage, boycott calls

Scandal-plagued actress Li Xiaolu gains comeback support amid calls for equal tolerance

China KOLs banned for posing as wives of Dubai royalty to sell subpar household items

Trending in China

‘Rich second generation’: Chinese woman conned out of nearly US$3 million by ‘lover’ who claimed to come from wealthy family

Mainland social media has been astonished by the story of a Chinese woman who was duped out of nearly US$3 million by a would-be lover who posed as the son of a wealthy family online. Photo: SCMP composite

The story of a woman in China who was conned out of nearly US$3 million by a man posing as the son of a wealthy family has prompted a lively discussion on mainland social media. Photo: SCMP composite 

The victim, never met the man who cheated her in real life, was lured into currency trading racket. Photo: Shutterstock

Online love scams have become rampant in China as racketeers stalk the virtual world. Photo: Shutterstock

‘Really lifelike’: business boom for Chinese artist behind replica woollen animals which memorialise dead pets, fills order book for next 3 years

Observers on mainland social media have been highly impressed by the skills of a woman in China who makes lifelike replicas of people’s dead pets using wool and needles. Photo: SCMP composite/CCTV

The skills of a woman in China who makes stunningly lifelike replicas of people’s deceased pets using wool and needles have impressed many on mainland social media. Photo: SCMP composite/CCTV

Yuan Jiaojiao, from Jiangsu province, uses a process called “needle-felting” to reproduce her lifelike creations. Photo:  CCTV

Yuan, who has perfected her skills over a three-year period, puts the finishing touches to a copy dog. Photo: CCTV

Chinese boy, 8, living with father after parents’ divorce filmed waiting with pyjamas outside mother’s flat goes viral

The video of the boy waiting for his mother with his pyjamas moved many to tears after the story was widely reported by Chinese media earlier this week. Photo: SCMP composite/Weibo

Seeing her 8-year-old son waiting with his pyjamas outside her flat deeply affected Liu, who moved to the same compound where her son lives with his father a few days later. Photo: Weibo

The boy, pictured, and his sister getting ready for bed at their mother’s flat later the same evening. Photo: Weibo

‘Not a mouse head’: college in China claims ‘foreign object’ with ‘teeth’ in canteen dish is duck neck but many unconvinced

People online who saw the video of the item were sceptical of the school’s claim, with one asking, “How come the duck’s neck grew teeth?” Photo: SCMP composite/Guancha

In the video, the student describes in unsettling detail what he sees when looking at the “foreign object” — pointing out what he says are teeth, eyes and even a nose. Photo: Guancha

After several hygiene scandals in recent years, the incident has reignited long-held concerns about food safety at China’s educational institutions. Photo: Shutterstock

‘City of heroes’: passers-by in China help woman dragged by car of ‘shameless’ husband after she catches him with girlfriend

The woman was holding onto the car when her husband suddenly pulled away at speed, dragging her for at least 20 metres along the road. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin

The wife later told police at the scene that she had received unspecified injuries when her husband’s driving had caused her to be dragged along the road with the car. Photo: Douyin

As the scene unfolded, more passers-by joined the crowd offering support to the woman during her confrontation with her husband and his girlfriend. Photo: Douyin

‘How much is conscience worth?’: Chinese woman rejects birth parents who gave her up and want her to ‘get along’ with brother she has never met

A young mother in China has rejected appeals by her birth parents who rejected her as a baby because “she was a girl”, for a reunion. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin

Two decades after her birth parents abandoned her when she was a month old, a woman in China has rejected their appeals for her to reunite with them. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin

Luo, who was brought up by “humble” foster parents, says she will never leave them. Photo: Douyin

Baby Luo, above, was abandoned one month after she was born “because she was a girl”. Photo: Douyin

News

People & Culture

After ‘rigorous’ checks on ‘lover’ she met online, woman sinks her own money and that of friends and family into crooked currency trading app
A month later, story of bogus scion falls apart and police discover woman has lost nearly US$3 million


A lively discussion has been sparked on mainland social media after a woman in China was conned out of nearly US$3 million by a man posing online as the son of a wealthy family.


‘Rich second generation’: Chinese woman conned out of nearly US$3 million by ‘lover’ who claimed to come from wealthy family

After ‘rigorous’ checks on ‘lover’ she met online, woman sinks her own money and that of friends and family into crooked currency trading app A month later, story of bogus scion falls apart and police discover woman has lost nearly US$3 million

After ‘rigorous’ checks on ‘lover’ she met online, woman sinks her own money and that of friends and family into crooked currency trading app

A month later, story of bogus scion falls apart and police discover woman has lost nearly US$3 million