"‘For our future, we need to invest in Bitcoin’ - 60-year-old woman from Keelung falls victim to romance scam"

The Keelung City police recently successfully prevented a case of online romance scam. A woman in her 60s met a man claiming to be a doctor from Paris online, and almost faced financial loss due to his sweet words and temptation to invest in Bitcoin.

Pig-killing scam case

Another Scam Involving "Killing Pigs": Love and Bitcoin as Double Bait

A woman in her 60s from Keelung befriended a man claiming to be a doctor living in Paris on Facebook. They further communicated on LINE, where the man would daily shower her with sweet words of care, such as "Wishing you a wonderful day, my love" and "I love you very much," gradually winning her trust. Subsequently, this so-called doctor started enticing her to invest in Bitcoin, leading the woman to believe without doubt, even preparing to wire 50,000 NTD for the investment.

Bank Staff and Police Act Timely to Prevent

Fortunately, when the woman went to the bank to make the transfer, bank staff noticed something amiss and immediately contacted the police. Upon the police's arrival, they found the woman vague about the purpose of the transfer and displaying abnormal emotions. Upon inspecting her phone, the police discovered many messages of sweet nothings, suspecting a typical case of romance scam.

Love Blinds the Woman: Unaware of Bitcoin, Thought It Was a Place Name

The woman confessed to the police that she was moved by the attention from the man and believed him deeply despite never meeting him in person, ready to wire money to invest in Bitcoin. When asked by the police about her understanding of Bitcoin, she admitted to being clueless and even mistook it for a place name. The police then explained to her that Bitcoin is a type of virtual currency and made her realize through various examples that she had almost become a victim of fraud, successfully safeguarding her savings.

Virtual Assets + Romance Scam

Xu Yong-huang, the chief of Qidu Police Station, and deputy chief Xu Yao-bin pointed out that in recent years, fraud groups often use romance scams, employing sweet words to make victims drop their guard and then vanish without a trace. They remind everyone to be extra cautious when making friends online, not to easily disclose personal information, and encourage the public to be vigilant when encountering similar situations.

If there are suspicious circumstances, please visit the 165 Anti-Scam Network: https://165.npa.gov.tw/