A woman in Lixian lost 380,000 yuan after forming an online relationship on the Chinese dating app TanTan and being steered into a bogus investment platform, police and court filings show. The case, reported to local authorities on December 1, prompted a rapid investigation that culminated in the arrest of ten suspects across multiple cities.
The victim first connected with a man using the name Liu on TanTan in early November. He cultivated trust with daily messages and the façade of a committed relationship before urging her to place funds into a mobile application billed as a petroleum and natural‑gas trading centre. When the woman tried to withdraw after investing 250,000 yuan she was told to pay another 70,000 yuan in “taxes,” then pressured to add another 60,000 yuan; by the time she realised the accounts were personal rather than institutional, 380,000 yuan had been siphoned into private accounts.
Lixian police formed a specialised task force and carried out coordinated operations in Chongqing, Guang'an and other locations to dismantle the ring. Ten suspects have been detained and are in criminal custody, while investigators say the same organised gang may have defrauded victims of more than 10 million yuan. Authorities say they will continue pursuing remaining members of the network and tracing the flow of funds.
The incident has drawn attention back to TanTan, the Beijing‑based dating app launched in 2014 and now a wholly owned subsidiary of Momo (formerly Momo Technology), which acquired the service in 2018. Journalists seeking comment reached out to TanTan’s operator before publication but had not received a response; corporate filings show TanTan is part of the larger Momo group headquartered in Beijing.
This case illustrates a well‑established fraud pattern: social engineering on social platforms followed by diversion of victims into sham financial products or crypto‑style trading apps that require advance fees or “taxes” to unlock withdrawals. Dating apps provide fertile ground for this playbook because they facilitate rapid intimacy and lower victims’ suspicion, while payment channels and third‑party apps create opaque conduits for moving money.
The arrests also highlight Chinese law enforcement’s increasing focus on internet‑enabled fraud and the pressure on platforms to strengthen user verification, content moderation and cooperation with police. For tech companies, the reputational and regulatory stakes are rising as the state demands tighter controls over platform safety and the financial flows that sometimes run through ostensibly social services.