One phrase 'I am your husband' fools scam group, single mother may have to pay millions

A single mother in Taiwan has been caught in a devastating online romance scam, resulting in her becoming an unwitting accomplice in a large-scale fraud operation. The woman, identified by her surname Wu, was tricked into handing over five ATM cards and their PINs to her online boyfriend, who claimed to be working in a bank.

Wu became involved with a man surnamed Lin online in June last year. He preyed on her sympathy by sharing a story of being a divorced single parent. After building trust, Lin claimed he needed to send her 600,000 NT dollars for living expenses but then sent screenshots alleging his account was frozen due to the transfer. He further manipulated her by saying he urgently needed to use an account for an engineering project and asked her to mail her ATM cards to his cousin, who supposedly worked at a bank.

Tragically, Wu complied, sending her five ATM cards and passwords. The scammer group then used these cards to defraud 12 victims, accumulating a total of 949,800 NT dollars. Wu only realized she had been scammed when Lin repeatedly demanded intimate photos, she felt repulsed, attempted to break up, and then discovered her accounts were frozen after he stopped responding.

Prosecutors argued Wu should have foreseen the illegal use of her accounts, given her expressed doubts about being scammed. However, Wu maintained she was also a victim, believing Lin's story about needing the account for an engineering project and his cousin's supposed banking assistance. The court acknowledged her lack of intent to aid the fraud, convicting her only on the charge of delivering an account without proper reason, resulting in a three-month sentence. Nevertheless, she may still face civil lawsuits to compensate the victims for their losses.

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I am your husband.