Online romance nearly leads Kaohsiung man into a $2.5 million investment scam

A bank clerk’s questions prevented a 54-year-old man in Kaohsiung from withdrawing NT$2.5 million for a cryptocurrency investment after an online romance turned into a scam.

The man had met a woman online and built a relationship with her. She later introduced him to another person who claimed to be a technical strategy consultant for an investment platform. That person used language about strategy design, model optimization and risk management to persuade him to invest in gold futures and virtual currencies.

The group told the man to say the money was for buying a car if bank staff or police asked. When he went to the bank, employees became suspicious and contacted police. He initially said he wanted to withdraw the money because a car dealer had looked down on him and he planned to buy a car directly.

Police noticed a message from the woman asking whether he had arrived at the bank. After officers explained the group’s methods and common scripts, the man admitted that he intended to use the cash to buy cryptocurrency. The withdrawal was stopped, preventing the NT$2.5 million from reaching the scammers.