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The Chinese influencer began addressing the elderly woman as “mum” and they started chatting daily.
The influencer was sentenced to a 10-and-a-half-year jail term. (Representative Image/Shutterstock)
A Chinese influencer was arrested for “manipulating” an elderly woman into transferring 560,000 yuan (approximately Rs 66 lakh) by pretending to be her son and fabricating emotional stories. The influencer, who gained the woman’s trust over time, deceived her using moving tales and false identities.
According to the report in South China Morning Post (SCMP), the 70-year-old woman, identified as Tang from Shanghai, lived alone and had no children. In 2022, Tang’s niece, Jiang, noticed that she had been sending a significant amount of money to an unknown individual.
The arrested man, identified as Mao from Shaanxi province, first appeared as someone helping peasants sell slow-selling products and assisting those in need. Jiang, taken in by his apparent “kindness,” was later tricked into purchasing illegal health products.
In 2021, the influencer began addressing Tang as “mum” and they started chatting daily. Then, he began asking her for money for emergencies. Mao’s list of excuses included claiming he had “early-stage stomach cancer, his father was critically ill and his girlfriend needed an abortion.”
Tang believed his every story and even borrowed money to send to him. To reassure her, Mao also took an extraordinary step as he travelled more than 1,000 km to meet her. During the visit, he filmed their interaction and used music that praised mother’s love.
Tang’s relatives noticed the suspicious transactions. However, Tang, desperate to support her “son,” threatened to “jump off the building,” when they suggested reporting the situation to the police.
But soon enough Tang grew suspicious when Mao began to reach out less frequently. He then accused her of not trusting him and demanded that she stop contacting him. This behaviour finally led Tang to contact the authorities by the end of 2023.
As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered that Mao had used four separate accounts, each pretending to be a different person, to maintain his deception. However, it was a small detail that led to his capture. Tang had taken a photo of his car’s license plate during his visit which eventually helped investigators track him down.
After gathering the evidence, the police arrested Mao in Shanghai and he was charged with defrauding Tang out of 560,000 yuan for two years. The court handed down a sentence of 10 and a half years in prison along with a fine of 100,000 yuan (around Rs 11 lakh).
As per the report, Tang, who lived alone on a pension of 4,000 yuan (approximately Rs 47,000) per month, fell into deep debt due to Mao’s scam. She owed more than 70,000 yuan (around Rs 8 lakh) and was required to pay 3,000 yuan (nearly Rs 35,500) each month to repay her debt.
Despite the court offering assistance for her financial struggles, Tang chose to decline their help. Her niece revealed that the emotional toll of the situation was so severe that Tang lost 10 kgs in just six months.
