Woman in Taichung Nearly Loses 150,000 NTD in Online Romance Scam by Man Claiming to be Chinese-American

A woman in Taichung met a man online who claimed to be a Chinese-American. After developing an online relationship, the man suddenly asked to borrow 5,000 USD, claiming a family member needed surgery. When the woman went to the post office to wire the money, a clerk noticed something was wrong and called the police. Officers arrived and confirmed it was a romance scam, successfully protecting the woman's savings. The Taichung City Police Department's Taiping Precinct stated that officers from the Taiping Police Station received a report from a postal clerk on the afternoon of the 18th about a woman attempting to wire money to a suspicious account. Upon arrival, officers learned that the woman, in her 50s, had met the man on a messaging app earlier this year. Recently, the man claimed a family member was ill and needed surgery, promising to return to Taiwan in a few months to repay the money and live together. The clerk became suspicious when the woman tried to exchange and wire 5,000 USD. After reviewing the chat history and noting that the recipient's account name was female, police determined it was a romance scam. After police explained similar fraud cases, the woman realized she had been targeted and thanked the clerk and police for their assistance.