Search
romance+scam
Articles
· Bryan Ke
Married Chinese man cons 39 women out of $78,000 in romance scam using photos of attractive Korean men
A married Chinese man was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison and fined 30,000 yuan (approximately $4,166) for scamming 39 women. He Gansheng, a 38-year-old who lived with his wife and children in Hubei province, received his sentence in April 2021. The man reportedly…
· Bryan Ke
Japanese man behind $2.9 million global ‘romance scam’ arrested in Ghana
Hikaru Morikawa, a 58-year-old man accused of being the ringleader of a “romance scam” that swindled 65 victims out of nearly 400 million yen (approximately $2.9 million) in total, has been arrested at the request of INTERPOL Tokyo. “The suspect was put before court and was…
· Carl Samson
S. Korea preps sanctions against Cambodia scammers as US intensifies crackdown
South Korea plans to impose financial sanctions on Cambodia-based criminal organizations involved in online scams and human trafficking, a move that follows the U.S.’ unprecedented action against Southeast Asian fraud operations, which resulted in $15 billion worth of bitcoin…
· Carl Samson
Watch: Japanese police pull off kawaii dance moves in anti-scam video
A video of police officers in Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture dancing to an anti-scam children’s song has gone viral on X, garnering 10.7 million views since its release on Oct. 7. Created by members of the Asaminami Police Station, the video features five officers dancing against…
· Carl Samson
Hong Kong police bust love scam that duped victims out of $46 million using deepfakes
Hong Kong police dismantled a cross-border fraud syndicate that allegedly used deepfake technology to swindle over $46 million from victims across Asia through cryptocurrency romance scams. With 27 individuals arrested, the bust includes one of the largest fraud centers ever…
· Michelle De Pacina
Vancouver scammers steal nearly $6M from Chinese Canadian community
Vancouver authorities report that scammers targeted the city’s Chinese Canadian community members, stealing nearly $6 million since the beginning of the year. The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is currently investigating 26 cases but believes there are more unreported…
· Ryan General
Why the 1,022 fake SpaceX employees from China could be part of an elaborate scam
A rumor that Elon Musk’s SpaceX employs over 1,000 Tsinghua University graduates became a trending topic on Chinese social media in July. The figure used in the story came from search results on the professional networking platform LinkedIn, which showed that 1,022 of SpaceX’s…
· Ryan General
Scammer claiming to be Korean oil rig worker dupes Malaysian widow out of nearly $1 million
A widow from the Malaysian state of Penang gave away nearly 3.9 million Malaysian ringgit (approximately $908,510) to an online acquaintance claiming to be a Korean man. The person said he was an oil rig worker and won the widow’s trust by sending her pictures, videos and…
· Carl Samson
Singaporean Woman Makes $36,000 Off Love Scammer, Loses It All to Another Scammer
A woman in Singapore pleaded guilty to spending cash that a love scammer had deposited into her bank account from scams that she fell for herself. Christina Cheong Yoke Lin, 63, met the scammer, a man identified only as Collins, through dating app Badoo in early August 2017.
· Ryan General
Chinese Policeman Morphs Into a Pretty Woman to Warn Against Catfishing Scams
A short clip of a policeman transforming into a beautiful young woman is making the rounds on Chinese social media. The 20-second video, which has since gone viral since it was uploaded last week, is aimed at warning netizens against romance scams proliferating online in China.
· Bryan Ke
Jay Chou and Jeremy Lin Have the Most Adorable Bromance on Instagram
Taiwanese musician Jay Chou and NBA star Jeremy Lin have the biggest bromance which is apparent in the videos they frequently post on their Instagram accounts. Get on my level @jaychou and don’t blow on my hand lol! 你的魔術在那裡啊？#matchingjackets @klmagic
· Ryan General
Thai Woman Conned Out of $30,000 By Nigerian Scammers
Authorities in Thailand recently arrested a gang of foreigners allegedly preying on single women with a con known as a “romance scam”. Nigerian nationals Emeka Celestine Eze, 31, and Oliver Obioroh, 44, were arrested at two separate locations on Wednesday, according to Tourist…
· Carl Samson
Nigerian Scammers Make $4 Million Targeting 48 Women and Elderly Man in Hong Kong
A syndicate that duped 48 women and a 77-year-old man out of 29.5 million Hong Kong dollars ($3.78 million) in Hong Kong in online romance scams was busted last week. The syndicate, based in Kuala Lumpur, had been tricking Hongkongers since January. Victims include a lawyer,…
· Ryan General
American Woman Goes to Malaysia to Meet Online Lover, Gets Brutally Scammed
An elderly American woman recently went to Malaysia expecting to come face-to-face with the “dashing construction tycoon” she met online, only to discover that her internet romance was part of an elaborate scam. The 77-year-old unnamed victim, who went all the way from the U.S.,…
· Ryan General
AI-generated images of Lee Jung-jae used to defraud woman of $350K
A woman in her 50s from Miryang, South Korea, lost about 500 million won ($350,000), after scammers used AI-generated photos of “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae and a forged driver’s license to pose as the actor. The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency said the impostors contacted…
· Carl Samson
Korean woman loses $50,000 after falling for fake Elon Musk
A Korean fan of Elon Musk was duped into transferring thousands of dollars to a scammer who pretended to be the billionaire using artificial intelligence. Key points:
· Carl Samson
Japanese woman conned out of $30,000 by ‘astronaut’ who promised marriage but was ‘stuck’ in space
A 65-year-old woman in Japan’s Shiga prefecture was conned out of millions of yen by a fraudster who claimed to be a Russian astronaut working in the International Space Station (ISS). The con artist tricked the woman by promising marriage but claiming that he could not leave…
· Ryan General
Woman loses $300,000 worth of bitcoin to person who posed as a Chinese architect on dating app Hinge
Tho Vu, 33, lost about $300,000 worth of bitcoin after being scammed by her Hinge match. The scammer, who went by the name Ze Zhao, earned her trust by promising her a honeymoon and a new life together. According to Vu, she deposited her bitcoin into the digital wallet that the…
· Nadya Okamoto
Watching ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ as an Asian American Hopeless Romantic is MAGICAL
I didn’t have many examples of happy marriages growing up, and my first few serious relationships with men were toxic. For me, romantic comedies were where I found hope and a sense of escapism from reality – that maybe, one-day, if I was lucky, I could find love like in those…
· Ryan General
Thai Actor Arrested After Fooling Finnish Man Out of $24 Million in Bitcoin
A popular actor in Thailand was recently arrested in connection with an alleged Bitcoin scam, worth almost a billion Thai baht worth of cryptocurrency. Jiratpisit “Boom” Jaravijit, known for TV roles in hit series such as “Bad Romance The Series,” “Nang Ai,” and “Naew…