Brief facts of the case

Between August 2018 and February 2023, defendant Hua fabricated identity information, concealed the fact that he was married and had children, dated and formed a romantic relationship with the victim Xiaoshuai through the Internet in the name of "Xiaomei", and defrauded the victim of a large amount of money for various reasons such as gifts, red envelopes, surgeries, and hospitalizations. The victim Xiaoshuai paid a total of 357,536.44 yuan to Hua by WeChat transfer, after which Hua canceled the "Xiaomei" WeChat account and cut off contact with the victim. Defendant Hua was arrested by the public security organs in July 2023, and later truthfully confessed the above facts. After the incident, Hua made full restitution and obtained forgiveness with the help of his family.

The victim, Xiaoshuai, stated that he met a junior college girl who called herself "Xiaomei" on the Internet. The two parties added WeChat and then went on an online dating. After more than four years of dating, the other party always refused to video, and asked the other party to meet, but the other party also refused to meet for various reasons, and she wanted to go to her, but she didn't agree. During this period, "Xiaomei" demanded a large amount of money from him for various reasons such as illness and hospitalization, and the death of his grandfather. In February 2023, "Xiaomei" lost contact, and in March, a person who claimed to be a friend of "Xiaomei" informed him on WeChat that Xiaomei had died in a car accident. She once believed it to be true, and also posted on the online community of "Xiaomei's" hometown to find information about her parents in order to mourn, but "Xiaomei's" neighbors in the same community said that they had not heard of anyone in the community having died. He then suspected that he had been defrauded.

According to defendant Hua's confession, at first he just wanted to chat with people on WeChat, but later found out that some of the people chatting with him would give him money, so he registered some new WeChat accounts. He met Xiaoshuai under the pseudonym "Xiaomei" on the Internet, and then the two parties added WeChat to each other, and since then they have started online dating. His relationship with Xiaoshuai is also to cheat some money to spend. He himself did not go to college, was married and had children, but he called himself a third-year student majoring in dance to Xiaoshuai in order to attract Xiaoshuai to associate with him. During the relationship, whenever he proposed to go shopping to buy clothes, Xiaoshuai would always take the initiative to give him money. Later, he kept fabricating reasons such as hospitalization and the death of his grandfather to ask Xiaoshuai for money. Xiaoshuai asked to meet, but he was afraid that the meeting would be a goof, so he refused to meet on the grounds of few holidays and the disapproval of his family. He never showed his face on video calls with Xiaoshuai, and the photos sent to Xiaoshuai were all downloaded from the Internet. At the beginning of 2023, he didn't want to contact Xiaoshuai anymore, so as a friend, he used his other WeChat account to tell Xiaoshuai that he had died in a car accident and should not contact him again.

Court of Justice 

After trial, the court held that the defendant Hua, for the purpose of illegal possession, fabricated facts and defrauded others of their property, and the amount was huge, and his conduct constituted the crime of fraud. In view of the fact that he truthfully confessed, pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, fully restituted the victims, and obtained forgiveness, the court finally made the above judgment.

After the verdict was announced, the defendant Hua did not appeal. The verdict is now in force.

The judge said the law 

Online dating has greatly expanded people's circle of friends and has become one of the popular ways for many young people to make friends. However, it is difficult to verify the real identity information of online friends, and online dating scams and online scams are not uncommon.

As a reminder, you need to be cautious about online dating, be sure to protect your personal information, and don't trust others. Do not lend money until you fully understand the identity and true situation of the other party, so as to avoid falling into the "love trap" carefully designed by the other party. If you are borrowing money, it is advisable to try to lend a small amount of money first and set a repayment period. Before lending, carefully verify the reason for borrowing, the other party's ability to repay, address and contact information, and at the same time, you should write an IOU, keep chat records, transfer records and other evidence. If the other party delays repayment, refuses to meet, frequently asks for money, etc., it is recommended to call the police and stop losses in time.

(The names of the characters in the article have been changed)

This article is transferred from the WeChat public account of "Beijing Haidian Court", thank you here!