Pay first for dating a female online friend? A Changhua man’s dream of pursuing love was shattered when he was shocked to find out that he had been cheated and risked paying NT$240,000.

A man whose dream of love was shattered was shocked to find out that he had been cheated out of NT$240,000 and reported the case to the police. (provided by police)

A man from Changhua City made friends online on a social platform and thought he would be lucky enough to get a date with his female netizen. Unexpectedly, he fell into a scam step by step. The other party first demanded a payment of 2,000 yuan, then tricked him into joining a specific group to operate a financial app, and finally forced him to pay 240,000 yuan on the grounds of "operational error." The man was shocked when he realized something was wrong, so he immediately stopped his losses and reported the crime. Although he saved a large sum of savings, his dream of pursuing love was shattered and he had been defrauded of 2,000 yuan.

Changhua Police Station pointed out today (11th) that Officer Huang Xinyi of Yutong Police Station recently accepted the Internet fraud case. The man met a strange female netizen on the social platform Twitter. The other party announced that "new fans can participate in a lottery and get a date opportunity." She then enthusiastically introduced the content of the event and asked him to pay 2,000 yuan in advance, and then added him to a specific communication group.

The group members instructed the man to download and operate the designated financial APP, claiming that as long as he continued to operate and accumulated profits of 500,000 yuan, he would be able to successfully date the female netizen. The man was excited for a moment and operated the APP according to the instructions. Unexpectedly, the other party later accused him of "losses caused by operational errors" and forcefully demanded that he compensate about NT$240,000, otherwise he would have to deposit money again to make up for the loss. The man suspected that he had been defrauded and asked the police station for help, which promptly prevented the subsequent loss of 240,000 yuan.

Changhua Branch reminds that fraud syndicates often take advantage of people's expectations for making friends, lottery draws and investment profits to establish false feelings on social platforms, and then use various reasons to demand payment in advance, store value or download financial apps with unknown operations, and even threaten and extort people afterwards using the excuses of "operational errors" and "unlocking accounts". Any situation where payment is required before you can go on a date or participate in an event, promises of high profits, or requests for compensation due to illegal mistakes are all common fraud tactics. People should stop the operation immediately and do not hand over property easily.

☆The Liberty Times e-newsletter reminds you that the anti-fraud hotline: 165, the crime reporting hotline: 110☆