Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Or Stealing My Money

This was written by Michael W. Cheek on Friday, April 9, 2010, 8:32.

Online daters beware: while it might be a convenient way to meet a potential soul mate, the Internet is also a great way to meet cyber crooks. Police in Qianan city of Northeast China’s Hebei province have arrested an 18 year-old-man who is suspected of defrauding his online girlfriend of more than $307,000, according to China Daily.

The young man, who is unemployed, met his “girlfriend” on the popular Chinese instant messenger service QQ. He claimed that he was a pilot and that his family ran a company that produced iron and steel. He proceeded to lie to his online girlfriend about various reasons he needed money, such as a car accident and organ transplant. She proceeded to send him thousands of dollars, only realizing it was a fraud recently.