Han Ximin
ximhan@126.com
FUTIAN police busted a criminal ring involved in a dating scam that cheated more than 100 women out of over 1 million yuan (US$144,800).
Five people were caught and a large number of bank cards, IDs, phone cards and computers were seized.
In August last year, a 47-year-old woman, surnamed Li, got to know a man surnamed Zhang, who claimed to be a manager that owned a plant in Dongguan, on an online dating website.
The two chatted and dated online for a few months, but Zhang made different excuses not to meet Li, such as being at a meeting or on a business trip.
In December, Zhang called Li and asked her to attend the opening of his friend’s business by presenting a flower basket. Zhang also gave Li the phone number of the flower shop. While Li hesitated, she received a call from a man who claimed to be Zhang’s father and was convinced of the importance of presenting the flower basket. Li then contacted the flower shop and transferred 132,000 yuan in five transfers in order to pay for the flowers, a plaque and other things.
Li later realized that she had been cheated after she lost contact with Zhang.
Tian’an Police Station confirmed the scam after a monthlong investigation and located the suspects in a rented apartment in Dongguan.
The suspects registered on the dating website with other people’s ID information and started to scam victims after winning their trust by playing different roles such as a Hong Kong businessman or flower shop owner.
On Jan. 15, police detained five suspects in the apartment in Dongguan. The five are all natives of Xingning, Guangdong Province, and had little education.
In two years, the ring cheated around 130 women out of 1 million yuan in China.
Many women never realized or wouldn’t believe that they had been cheated, while some didn’t want to report their crimes although they knew that they had been cheated.
Police have issued a notice, reminding victims to report the crimes to local police stations.
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