To be in love is romantic, but people should be practical and vigilant. If the person suddenly mentions needing money, it might be a scam, a matchmaker said yesterday.
Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華), owner of a matchmaking workshop in Changhua City, cited a 35-year-old female coworker of her relative as an example, who met a man through an online dating app. The man claimed to work for the National Security Bureau and even sent her his GPS location to win her trust.
They talked every day, and the woman fell in love, Chen said.
Photo: Wang Kuan-jen, Taipei Times
After chatting for a week, the man “disappeared” for two days and reappeared to tell the woman he had accidentally spilled state secrets by sending her his GPS location, so he was given a major demerit and a penalty of several million New Taiwan dollars, Chen said.
The man told the woman he was busy trying to gather enough money to pay the penalty, and that he hoped she could help him by lending him some money, which he promised to pay back, she said.
The woman felt guilty he was being punished, Chen said.
She thought the man must be very capable and responsible to be able to gather several million New Taiwan dollars in just two days, and she should help him by lending him the remaining NT$1 million (US$30,912), Chen said.
The woman took out loans from several banks and transferred the money to the man, she said.
When the man disappeared after receiving the money, the woman realized she had been scammed and reported it to the police, Chen said, adding that the woman had to borrow money from her coworkers to pay her bank loans.
Romance scams can happen to people of all ages, and victims often believe they have met the love of their life, but people should be careful when dating online, she said.
People should ask for help from family, friends or the police when they suspect something is wrong., she added.
Separately, the Taipei City Police Department’s Beitou Precinct on Monday last week urged people to be careful of romance scammers, who usually use photos of young, handsome or beautiful people as their online profile picture, claim to be rich, attempt to win your trust and sweet talk you into giving them money.
They shared the story of a female teacher at a private school in Taipei, who became acquainted with a man through the Internet, as an example.
The man claimed to be a Taiwanese businessman in a foreign country. He talked to her online every day, and she thought she finally met “Mr. Right.”
After a while, the man told her that a subsidiary factory of his had poor cash flow and asked to borrow NT$5 million.
The woman said she only had about NT$4 million in cash, and rushed to a nearby bank to take the money out, the police said.
Fortunately, the bank clerk suspected it might be a scam and reported it to the police, they said.
The precinct urged people to call the 165 anti-fraud hotline or 110, the police emergency service line, to report suspicious activity.
Additional reporting by Wang Kuan-jen
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