50-Year-Old Woman Falls for Online Romance, Scammed into Medical Aesthetics Investment, Taichung Police and Bank Foil Fraud of Over 2 Million

(Central News Agency Reporter Su Mu-chun Taichung, 29th) A woman in Taichung met a male netizen online who claimed to be from Hong Kong and they began an online romance. The man said he wanted to come to Taiwan to live together and invited the woman to invest in medical aesthetics equipment, which he claimed could be purchased at a low price through his channels. When she went to remit money recently, a bank teller noticed something unusual and reported it. Police arrived and successfully prevented a fraud of over 2 million.

Taichung City Police Bureau's Taiping Precinct stated today that on the afternoon of the 26th, around 1 p.m., the Taiping Police Station received a report from a bank teller at the First Bank within its jurisdiction stating that a woman intended to remit 500,000 Hong Kong dollars (approximately over 2.03 million New Taiwan dollars) to an unfamiliar account and requested police assistance.

Upon arrival and investigation, police learned that the woman, approximately 50 years old, had met a man claiming to be from Hong Kong on a communication app several months prior. They subsequently began an online romance. Recently, the male netizen expressed his desire to come to Taiwan to live with the woman. To earn money for their future life together, he claimed to have channels to acquire medical aesthetics equipment and other devices at a low price, intending to profit from the price difference and hoping the woman would invest together as future wedding funds.

On that day, the woman went to the bank to remit money to the account specified by the male netizen. The bank teller noticed something unusual and reported it. After arriving at the scene, the police learned about the process of the woman meeting the netizen and reviewed the mobile phone conversation content. Coupled with evidence such as the recipient's account name not being that of a male, they determined the woman had fallen victim to a scam group's tactics. After the police explained and provided relevant case examples, she realized she had narrowly avoided being defrauded and thanked the police and bank staff for saving her savings. (Editor: Chen Jen-hua) 1150629

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