A 40-year-old Chinese woman fell in love with a scammer and chose to stay in the relationship even after discovering his deceit, as she wanted to be with him. The couple then proceeded to scam others, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. The woman, identified as Hu from Shanghai, initially met the scammer, Chen, on an online dating platform and lost 100,000 yuan ($14,000) to him. Hu even referred to Chen as her husband online.
Chen convinced Hu to invest in what he claimed was a high-return investment account, but she soon found out that the money could not be withdrawn. Chen explained that he was trapped in a scamming ring in Northern Myanmar and would only be able to return to China if she helped him with money. Hu agreed to his terms, and Chen assured her that she would not be in any danger as long as she pretended to be the victim.
The SCMP report stated: “Blinded by love, Hu obediently followed Chen’s instructions, using her bank account to receive and launder the money through cash withdrawals and cryptocurrency conversions.”
Based on a complaint from another victim, Hu was arrested on September 19 last year and confessed to her crime. The report noted that “because she had not profited from the crime and had compensated a victim, she was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment, suspended for the same period, and fined 30,000 yuan.”
