SINGAPORE: To trap single victims, a criminal gang recruited female employees from KTVs and restaurants as “matchmaking decoys ” to fire attention on dating websites.
The hoax worked: 128 persons were swindled out of more than 2. 5 million yuan ( US$ 342,000 ).
The case is part of a worrying trend in fraud cases related to matchmaking and dating platforms, highlighted by China ’s top prosecutorial body as it sounded the alarm over scams exploiting the country ’s growing singles market.
From January 2024 to March this year, 1,546 individuals were prosecuted in criminal cases linked to the matchmaking industry, revealed the Supreme People’s Procuratorate ( SPP ) in a statement published last Thursday ( Apr 17 ).
“ In recent years, desire for matchmaking service has gradually grown- but so too have related illegitimate and criminal activities, ” said the SPP. There are no other data accessible showing whether there has been a surge in such cases.
China saw its biggest fall in relationships on record in 2024, with only over 6. 1 million people registering for relationship. It was a 20. 5 per share cut from 7. 68 million the year before, according to China ’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.
About 30 per share of 30-year-olds in the country were unmarried in 2023, according to the China Population and Employment Statistical Magazine 2024- up from 14. 6 per share a decade before.
Against this backdrop of shrinking relationships and a swelling lake of songs, illegal matching businesses have found rich surface.