Hangzhou, China – A 28-year-old man in China recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years and her 46-year-old auntie were actually the same person.
Mr Lu (not his real name) met Ms Yang (not her real name) through an online platform selling secondhand items in Sept 2017, reported Chinese newspaper The Paper on Aug 28.
Their relationship began with Ms Yang asking the man for help identifying products if they were authentic.
After more communication between the two, they eventually began dating.
In Nov 2017, Ms Yang told Mr Lu that she wanted to run away from home after her family tried forcing her to marry another man.
Wanting to help, Mr Lu travelled an approximate 392 kilometres from Yangzhou to Fuyang city in Anhui province, where the woman lived.
However, it was reported that Mr Lu never met Ms Yang despite staying in the city for a month.
It was Ms Yang’s “auntie,” Xu, who showed up instead. Xu told the man that Ms Yang’s family was no longer forcing her into an arranged marriage.
Mr Lu tried again to visit Ms Yan in Mar 2018 yet was told she was under strict supervision at home and couldn’t use her phone freely.
Ms Yang then told the man that her auntie was visiting Hangzhou, where Mr Lu lived, in two months, and she could assess the man for her.
Deeming it a test in their relationship, Mr Lu agreed.
He greeted Xu warmly in hopes of gaining his girlfriend’s approval.
Xu began working at Lu’s secondhand store and acted as the middle man for the couple.
Whenever Xu arranged a call between the two, Mr Lu had to leave the house or the basement.
The auntie explained that this would avoid misunderstanding with Ms Yang’s strict family after her attempt to run away from home.
It was reported that Ms Yang would ask her boyfriend to send money every month for their future wedding, which he readily accepted.
Throughout the three years they were together, Mr Lu sent tens of thousands in RMB to Ms Yang.
On Aug 20, 2021, Mr Lu discovered the love scam after the auntie asked him to replace her phone’s screen protector.
Her phone was unlocked, and he saw that she was sweet-talking other men in a similar way like Ms Yang.
Suspecting something was amiss, Mr Lu installed a recorder in his house and realised that whenever he was on a call with Ms Yang, the auntie was also on her phone, saying the exact words as his girlfriend.
On Aug 22, he recorded them again and found out the women were one and the same.
Mr Lu lodged a police report, and Xu was called in for questioning.
She confessed to lying about her identity and admitted that the money Mr Lu transferred had all been spent.
The police also discovered that the woman had multiple WeChat accounts perpetuating love scams.
Police investigations are ongoing./TISG