Over the course of their “relationship”, the victim loaned the fictional boyfriend 3.5 million yuan, receiving only small sums in return as holiday red envelopes on several occasions.

To maintain the illusion of wealth, when the victim’s cousin approached the fictional boyfriend seeking employment, the character readily agreed to hire him, taking the scam to an even more elaborate level.

‘Uterus of iron’: Chinese woman in wedding gift case outed as serial terminator

A woman who married multiple men repeatedly became pregnant, only to file for divorce after undergoing an abortion. This bizarre pattern came to light when a man in central China sued her for the bride price of 186,000 yuan (US$26,000).

He had paid, but she filed for divorce within two months of their marriage after having an abortion.

Astonishingly, this was a pattern she had repeated with six other men. As a result of these deceitful marriages and repeated abortions, some individuals on social media nicknamed her a “woman with an iron uterus”.

Meanwhile, we often hear that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”.

It was later revealed that “she” was actually an unemployed man. This unfortunate incident taught the man a valuable lesson that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

‘Unclean’: top China monk suspended over US$440,000 sex extortion scandal

The abbot of a prestigious Buddhist temple in southwestern China encountered the woman during a live-streamed furniture sales session three years ago.

After having a secret encounter with the woman in a hotel, she and her husband devised a plan to blackmail the monk by capturing their sexual encounters on film.

These fraudsters typically deceived each victim out of a few hundred yuan (equivalent to tens of US dollars).

However, when they were recently apprehended, police in Shanghai discovered that an undisclosed number of male victims from cities across China had collectively lost 300,000 yuan (US$42,000).

‘Best friend’ cheat scams Chinese woman out of US$210,000 in ‘extend life’ con

An instance involved a Chinese woman who received a distressing message from her friend, disguising as an online fortune-teller, stating that she had a mere year to live unless she engaged the services of a purported “Taoist priest” to “prolong her life”.

Regrettably, she incurred a loss of US$210,000 during this ordeal.

In another case, a man, burdened with misfortune and desiring a change in his luck, sought help from a master.

60-Second Catch-up

Deep dives

Woman cons ‘friend’ out of US$250,000 in elaborate China romance scam

• Vulnerable woman romanced via WeChat account•Fraudster ‘hired’ cousin of victim and scammed him as well

A woman in China defrauded her friend out of more than 1.79 million yuan (US$250,000) by posing as the son of a wealthy business executive and sustaining a fabricated romance.

The fraud, reported by The Paper, began in early 2016 when a woman, surnamed Chen, from Shanghai met another woman, surnamed Ma, and they became friends.

‘Uterus of iron’: Chinese woman in wedding gift case outed as serial terminator

• Man finds out wife had been married to 6 men before, following same path of getting pregnant, having an abortion, then quickly filing for divorce

• Court orders return of bulk of betrothal gift over sham marriage

A man in China has sued his ex-wife for the 186,000 yuan (US$26,000) bride price he paid after she filed for divorce two months into the marriage following an abortion – a pattern she had repeated with six other men.

According to the mainland media outlet Legal Daily, the woman from central China’s Henan province, who uses the pseudonym, Shuang, met the man, Xiaoya, on a blind date set up by a matchmaker in March.

Free lunches: Chinese man, 65, splurges cash on jobless man posing as lover

• Perpetrator pretends to be poor woman in early 20s with medical problems

• Identity of scammer revealed when man’s nephew becomes suspicious

A 65-year-old man in China lost around 100,000 yuan (US$13,800) after he fell for a romance scam involving a jobless man pretending to be a young female university student.

A court in southern China’s Hunan province sent a man, surnamed Feng, to jail for three years for fraud earlier this month, according to news portal Jiupai News.

‘Unclean’: top China monk suspended over US$440,000 sex extortion scandal

• Holy man had sex in hotel with married live-stream anchor

• Husband films ‘secret’ video of sex, extorts millions from monk

A US$440,000 sex and extortion scandal involving an abbot and a married online live-streaming anchor has sparked public uproar over financial and moral integrity.

The abbot, surnamed Zhang, at a prestigious Buddhist temple in Pujiang county, Chengdu, Sichuan province in southwestern China met a woman, surnamed Cai, during a furniture sales live-streaming event in late 2020.

US$42,000 China scammers snared after ‘small amounts’ romance racket exposed

• Racketeers pose as women seeking relationships with men, manipulate them into funding fake lifestyles

• Shanghai police bust fraud ring involving 20 people in 7 Chinese cities

Police in China have busted a fraud ring that had duped an undisclosed number of male victims out of a combined 300,000 yuan (US$42,000) by scamming each individual out of a small amount of money.

Police in Shanghai arrested 20 members of the network from seven cities across the country.

‘Best friend’ cheat scams Chinese woman out of US$210,000 in ‘extend life’ con

• 30-year-old told to keep transaction secret to keep it ‘effective’

• Family of victim smells a rat, takes woman to police

A superstitious woman in China, who was told she had less than a year to live by her “best friend” posing as an online fortune-teller, handed over a total of 1.5 million yuan (US$210,000) to extend her life.

The woman, who uses the pseudonym, Xiaoxia, said she was told in 2021 at the age of 30 by a “senior Taoist priest” that she would not live past 31, and she needed to buy a talisman acquired after innumerable hardships to “extend her life”.

‘Lost everything’: luck-seeking man in China loses US$278,000 in bizarre ritual scam

• Fraudster convinces victim to make ‘lucky’ Thailand trip, for a fee

• Probe reveals ‘master’ to be friend who introduced fake guru in first place

A desperate man in China who was trying to turn around his fortunes has been conned out of more than two million yuan (US$278,000) and persuaded to engage in a series of absurd rituals – such as consuming vast amounts of food over a short period of time.

In 2021, the man, surnamed Wang, enjoyed a stable life as a loving father and the owner of two shops in Shanghai. Then a friend, surnamed Zhu, introduced him to a so-called “master”.

Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world.