Police in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have nabbed 41 telecom and online fraud suspects, who swindled more than 30 million yuan (about 4.3 million U.S. dollars) from over 1,500 victims.
Late last year, local police received several reports from female victims who said they had been cheated out of large amounts of money through telecom frauds involving men they met online.
According to the police, the scammers, disguised as rich and handsome men, used social media to establish romantic relationships online.
After winning the trust of victims, the swindlers asked them to buy lotteries on fake sites, claiming to have inside information. When the victims had no more money to invest, the suspects would suddenly disappear.
Police said victims were mainly females between 30 and 45 years old, with the largest amount of money lost exceeding 3 million yuan.
After a thorough investigation, police caught the 41 suspects in Chongqing and four other provincial-level regions in June.
So far, 15 of the suspects have been approved for arrest. Further investigation is underway.
