A love-struck woman lost sh 35 million over 12 years in a crime committed by a bitter childhood friend.
The woman of Chinese origin was besotted by a Tv presenter who coincidentally the childhood friend knew personally and promised to introduce the two.
The love-struck woman did not know this was the beginning of a long online con game.
According to Shanghai police, the childhood friend cooked up the scam to take revenge on the victim’s mother who told her she wasn’t pretty or rich enough to find a husband.
Mainland media reported that the victim, named Li, was so besotted by the “celebrity” – who she never met over the whole 12-year period of their fake relationship – that she handed money over to “him”.
All along, the person she was communicating with was a childhood female friend, surnamed Yu, the Haibao News reported.
Yu, who has been detained by the police on suspicion of fraud, came up with the scam to take revenge on Li’s mother who in 2010 told her, “You don’t look pretty, and your family is not well-off, so you may have trouble finding a husband,” the news outlet said, quoting police from Shanghai’s Putuo district.
Taking the comment as a curse, Yu decided to avenge its author by designing a scam that would prevent the woman’s daughter from getting married, she confessed to the police.
Pretending to be a friend of a famous news anchor, Yu concocted a bogus “introduction” which would allow Li to meet the “TV anchor” online and began a “romantic relationship” with her via another mobile phone number.
Li never met her “boyfriend” because every time she asked for a real date, Yu would come up with various excuses such as business trips or overtime at work.
Li said she became suspicious from time to time but when she saw the anchor on TV, her faith in the “relationship” was restored.
The fake boyfriend began asking Li for money when Yu developed a serious illness and was in financial trouble in 2018.
Similar requests for cash followed over the next few years after Yu recovered from her illness, the medical costs of which were funded by money from Li.
In total, Yu received almost 2 million yuan from her love-struck friend. This included all her savings and money borrowed from others.
Debt-ridden, Li went to Yu to ask for her help to meet the man in person on November 20. Realising she could hide no longer, Yu told her the truth, after which Li called the police.
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