Con artist swindles willing mistress

Pudong New Area police have detained a con artist who scammed a woman out of 30,000 yuan ($4,923) by offering her the opportunity to be his mistress so he could steal her bank account information, local media reported Wednesday.

The suspect, surnamed Gong, met the victim, surnamed Li, after he literally ran into her in a department store on November 2, according to a report in the Jiefang Daily. Gong pretended to accidently knock Li down so he could make contact with her. He apologized and helped her pick up her belongings.

He then manufactured another meeting with her outside the store's entrance. He used the opportunity to introduce himself as a wealthy Hong Kong businessman and ask for her phone number.

Gong later asked Li if she would like to be his mistress and promised to pay her a specific amount of money each month, the report said. He even offered to let her name her price.

Li asked for 30,000 yuan a month, plus money for her clothing, makeup and jewelry. She also asked him to rent her an apartment in a high-end residential complex.

Gong agreed and suggested they meet at a café on November 5 to sign a contract. When they met, Gong asked Li to copy the contract by hand. At the same time, he asked for her bank card so he knew which account to transfer the money to. He also asked her to write down the card's pass code.

While Li was busy with the contract, Gong swapped her card with another. He then left with her card and password, telling her that he needed to use the bathroom.

Li did not notice that her card was missing until she received seven text messages from her bank 30 minutes later. The messages notified her that 30,000 yuan had been withdrawn from her account.

Li reported the case to police later that day.

Police were able to track down Gong and arrest him. In his possession, they found 40 bank cards that belonged to several of his previous victims.