Transcripts of online conversations show the con man earned trust by transferring thousands of yuan to victims on payment apps. However, once trust was established, he borrowed large sums and then perpetually delayed repayment, using bogus excuses. — SCMP
A con man in China who stole more than 3mil yuan (RM1.93mil or US$415,000) from eight women was caught after getting stuck on a 23rd-floor window ledge while trying to flee.
The man, surnamed Nie, from central China’s Anhui province, met his victims on an online dating site where he posed as a gentleman who owned a successful home renovation company in Hefei, the provincial capital.
A report in the news oulet Sichuan Observation said he cultivated relationships with eight women from 2019 until 2023, during which he defrauded them of more than 3mil yuan (RM1.93mil) in total.
The transcripts of his online conversations with the woman show Nie earning their trust by transferring thousands of yuan to them on online payment apps.
However, once trust was established, he started borrowing money and perpetually delayed repayment.
In a screenshot of a conversation with one of the victims on WeChat, he justified the delay by saying: “The company account cannot transfer such a large sum of money at once.
“I don’t have any money left in my account. All of today’s withdrawals went towards paying salaries.”
When questioned about the money he claimed to have, he replied to one woman: “I have said it thousands of times. If I don’t have the money, would I be talking about buying a house?”
The scam came apart last month after one of the women, surnamed Zhang, ran out of patience and demanded repayment of the 300,000 yuan (RM193,424) he owed her, prompting Nie to try and flee through a window of the unit he was in.
However, he became trapped on a ledge of the 23rd floor and had to call the police for help, ending his elaborate love scam.
Nie has been placed in custody while the case is under investigation.
The news has been greeted with widespread shock on Chinese social media.
One person asked: “What charm does this man have to make several women lend him millions?”
“He really dug himself into a hole,” said another.
The number of love scam cases in China has been rising in recent years.
According to Chinanews.com, one district court in Beijing handled 45 such cases between 2019 and 2021, eight of which involved more than 1mil yuan (RM644,956).
Despite growing public awareness of love scams in China, many victims are too embarrassed to go to the police.
Red Star News reported in April this year that a man involved in more than 20 such scams since 2017 had swindled more than 700,000 yuan (RM451,437) from his victims, but only two had gone to the police. – South China Morning Post
