A Chinese man recently learned that his online girlfriend of one year was his best friend’s wife and discovered that she was trying to scam him.
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The man, identified as Zhou from Xuchang, Henan province, was saving money to start a family by growing watermelons in Myanmar. He remained in touch with his best friend, Xiao Li. He explained to Li that his business was doing well and wanted to settle down with a woman. He informed Zhou that his wife had a friend who was also single, and she could introduce them as reported by Oddity Central.
Zhou said online dating was his only option since he works on the farm full time and Li’s “friend” agreed to the long distance relationship until he returned to China. However, the online girlfriend reportedly told that her brother was injured on a construction site and she needed 5,000 yuan($730) to pay for his medical expenses. Although they were dating for only three months, Zhou had no issue sending her the money.
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Several weeks later, the woman asked him for money again but said it was for her father and needed to pay for his medical expensive. Throughout the year, Zhou sent her 80,000 yuan($11, 650). Zhou eventually told his friend that his relationship with his girlfriend was going well and decided to return to their hometown to finally meet the woman and marry her. Li revealed that he discovered that his wife posed as Zhou’s girlfriend on her Douyin account. The woman disappeared without any warning.
“I’m going to her house, but you won’t let me go, and I’ll call the police, but you won’t let me report! In the end, why do you have to take the blame on yourself?,” Zhou reportedly said to his best friend.
Zhou wanted to contact the police initially but his friend begged him not to press charges and wanted to pay him back in installments. However, Li failed to make up for the money his wife stole and Zhou eventually went to the police.
Your daughter-in-law hasn’t called me until now, this matter can’t be dragged on forever! I’m going crazy by now, you know?” he wrote in a text message.
The story went viral on Chinese social media platforms and some users wondered if Xiao Li and his wife were in on the scam together. One user wrote, “I just want to know if there are really male online dating people who will transfer money to each other?”
Another said,“Maybe the man thought it was introduced by a friend, so he shouldn’t lie to him! However, there are really things in the world that you can’t imagine. It turns out that it is really a scam!”