A woman in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, fell into a carefully designed investment scam while looking for a partner online, almost losing 1.85 million RMB (Renminbi), but thanks to timely reporting to the police, the emergency stop payment saved more than 1.4 million RMB in losses.
According to a report by CCTV News, a few months ago, Ms. Zhang from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, posted a marriage advertisement on a dating website, and a male netizen actively contacted her.
The man claimed to be a senior executive in the internet industry, coming from a very affluent family, and continuously showed concern for her, gaining Ms. Zhang’s trust quickly, and the two soon established a romantic relationship. Later, the man guided Ms. Zhang to communicate on another niche software platform (to evade platform supervision).
As the relationship intensified, the man began to constantly promote his gains through virtual currency investments, claiming to have earned over a million RMB in a short period, tempting Ms. Zhang to try it out.
Ms. Zhang first invested 700 RMB and made a profit of over 100 RMB, and then invested 30,000 RMB, making over 5,000 RMB in profit. After successfully withdrawing both investments, Ms. Zhang relaxed her guard.
Subsequently, the man, under the pretext of high returns for VIPs, recommended that she consult customer service. With continuous stimulation from the customer service, Ms. Zhang made a third investment, totaling 185,000 RMB, including her savings of 250,000 RMB and a loan of 1.6 million RMB.
However, Ms. Zhang quickly realized that she couldn’t withdraw the funds and couldn’t contact the man, realizing that she had been deceived, so she reported to the police. She managed to recover more than 1.4 million RMB in losses.
It is reported that this is a common type of online investment fraud, targeting mostly single individuals, where the modus operandi involves initially creating a perfect image of a “rich and handsome” person to gain trust, then using small profits to induce large investments, and finally disappearing after swindling the money, leaving the victims with no recourse.
Netizens expressed their feelings, saying, “Even online relationships can be deceived like this nowadays, it’s really difficult to guard against.” “I have also encountered similar incidents before, but it was a friend’s reminder that saved me from falling for it.”
However, some people also commented, “With my pure and good intentions, I can’t even get a factory worker to chase me.” “How can so many people still fall for simple scams and rough performances? Because many girls’ needs are only satisfied by con artists.” “This incident should serve as a reminder to everyone: don’t be greedy for small gains and end up with huge losses.”