A Chinese man recently discovered that the woman he had fallen in love with had been his friend’s wife trying to con him. His closest friend’s wife had introduced him to his online lover, who had been dating him for over a year.

Mr Zhou, a middle-aged resident of Xuchang, Henan Province, China, had been working to produce watermelons in Myanmar to gather money to establish a family. Even though he had been away for a long time, he maintained contact with his best friend Xiao Li, to whom he admitted last year that his business was prospering and that he hoped to find a lovely woman.

Li informed him that his wife had a single girlfriend who could introduce them.

Online dating was the only option because Zhou was still away managing his fruit company. They got along well and decided to keep dating across distance until Zhou returned to China.

They had been corresponding online for around three months. The online lover of Mr Zhou informed him that her brother had been seriously injured in a construction site accident and that she urgently need 5,000 yuan ($730) for medical costs.

Zhou agreed to send her the money because he didn’t think it was excessive, but only a few weeks later, she requested money once more, this time stating that her father was ill. During a year, he sent her approximately 80,000 yuan ($11,650).