Police Bust Multi-million Yuan ‘Relationship Fixer’ Scam

Shanghai police arrested 69 suspects in a scam that stole 7 million yuan (US$1.1m) from people with promises they could save their failing romantic relationships. The scammers told desperate clients they would have their “experts” convince their reluctant partner to stay in the relationship. According to police, no interventions took place and clients were made to keep paying. One of the suspects told police that their experts were only salespeople trained to coax clients into signing up and not provide any services. The suspects are allegedly involved in more than 500 cases of fraud. Many netizens expressed surprise over how people were duped so easily, saying that failed relationships rarely turn around because of a third party.