Selling a house and borrowing 1.5 million yuan for them to travel and buy luxury goods, a woman in Shanghai has been PUA by her best friend for 8 years
This is a fraud case that puzzled all onlookers.
For eight years, the young Mr. Lu had no reservations about believing in his college roommate and best friend. Not only did he lose all his friends, but he also sold his house and borrowed money, continuously transferring ten to twenty thousand yuan per month to support his best friend's high consumption.
This scam is so simple. One day in March 2023, a netizen was able to immediately expose her best friend's lie by simply reading two chat records sent by Lu. But for Lu, who is deeply trapped in the situation, it may not be as easy to come out as he imagined.
A suspicious alarm
"We can't contact her now. Didn't she keep repaying the money before? She said she can't repay it anymore and doesn't want to give the money anymore." On March 25, 2023, the Baoyang Police Station of the Baoshan Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau received a report. Two women, Li and Wu, said that they had lent their best friend Lu more than 1 million yuan together before. Lu has now lost contact and hopes that the police can help find her.
According to Li and Wu, they graduated from the same school as Lu and had a very good relationship, just like their own sisters, so they rented a house together after graduation and often ate together and went shopping together. Around 2015, they became addicted to playing games with Lu and spent a lot of money to buy game equipment. Gradually, they couldn't make ends meet, so the three of them continued to "cash in" through credit cards. Until one day, two people claiming to be police officers approached them and said they wanted to investigate the illegal cash flow of Mr. Lu.
"Two police officers, a man and a woman, came and said that Lu had been found cashing out on his credit card." Li said, "It's a bit strange now that I think about it, and these two police officers don't know if it's true." But we were too young at the time and didn't understand this. The other party hinted that we wanted to give gifts. "
Upon hearing this, the police officer was surprised and said, "Gifts? Did the police suggest that you give gifts?"
Li and Wu swore firmly, "Yes, it implies that they can help us settle the matter."
When the police asked the appearance of the two police officers again, Li replied, "I've forgotten a long time ago.". She said that because she was afraid that Lu would be taken away by those two people, and also afraid that her involvement in illegal cashing would be exposed, she discussed with Wu and raised a lot of money to give gifts to those two people on behalf of Lu. After learning about it, Lu promised to repay it in installments. "We never expected her to default on her debts and even disappear with us," Li said, feeling particularly heartbroken when facing the police.
Upon hearing this, the police's first reaction was that all three people had been deceived. After returning to the police station, the police attempted to contact Lu but were unsuccessful. The next day, when he wanted to inquire about the situation with Li and Wu again, their phones couldn't be reached. He arrived at the address provided by the two when they went to the police the day before and learned a shocking news from the landlord: Li and Wu had already been arrested by the police on suspicion of fraud!
Later, the police officer found out that at almost the same time as Li and Wu reported to the police, their best friend Lu, who claimed to owe money but did not repay it, also reported the case to the Liuzao Police Station of Pudong Public Security Bureau, believing that Li and Wu were suspected of fraud. After receiving a call from the police officers at Pudong Police Station, Li and Wu took the initiative to go to the station for questioning.
The truth is gradually revealed.
A "sincere" best friend relationship
In 2012, after graduating from high school, Lu was admitted to a vocational school in Shanghai and became roommates with Li and Wu. Originally, Lu had a good relationship with her classmates in the class, but gradually, she became more and more admired Li and surrounded him every day, distancing herself from other classmates. In the end, only Li and Wu were left as friends.
"She has a very flexible mind and can handle things quite well," Lu recalled. Because she was addicted to playing games, the three of them often skipped classes, and failing exams became a common occurrence. At the end of each semester, Li would take them to the office to find teachers, constantly saying good things to get close to, and sometimes even giving gifts. "Li told me that in this way, the teacher wouldn't be able to make things difficult for the three little girls, so we passed."
In early 2015, due to an internship, the three of them rented a house near the school to live together. One day, while interning outside, Lu suddenly received a six or seven second video from Li. In the video, a person wearing a police uniform said, "Little girl, give me your ID card."
Li said that this is a credit card cashout case that has been discovered. If the public security organs come to your home to arrest you, you may face a sentence of 15 to 20 years. Lu was very scared, but at this moment she still had a hint of reason, thinking that even if she was guilty, she wouldn't be sentenced so severely, right? However, when she took out her phone and searched online for "what would happen if a credit card scam cost more than 5000 yuan", she saw that the result was "15 years in prison", and Lu panicked. Because her credit card limit is 6000 yuan, the cash out amount must have exceeded 5000 yuan.
At this moment, Li stepped forward. She comforted Lu that her uncle, who was the director of the Public Security Bureau in his hometown, should have a way to help. A few days later, Li brought good news. His uncle, Director Zhang, had already contacted the main leaders of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau. However, "Pingshier" would cost more than 5 million yuan, and even if he tried his best to "bargain", he could only reduce it to over 1 million yuan.
The combined income of Lu's parents is only five to six thousand yuan per month. Although Lu has found a job, he cannot leave much money in a month due to spending too much on playing games. More than one million yuan in cash is simply astronomical for the Lu family. At first, Lu dared not tell his parents the truth, so he followed Professor Li's reasons, such as pushing his classmates downstairs to pay for medical expenses, losing gambling, borrowing high interest loans, and so on, and asked for money from his family.
Out of love and trust in their daughter, no matter how outrageous Lu's reasons are, parents try their best to be satisfied. When the family runs out of money, they borrow money from relatives. "When my mother passed away, buying a tomb cost over 100000 yuan, and the money was all from three brothers. My father and I ran out of money and gave it to her. My brothers hated me so much," said Lu's mother.
On one hand was the high debt, and on the other was the terrifying prison life that Li described. Lu fell into deep despair and even attempted to commit suicide by cutting her wrist. Fortunately, her parents discovered it in time and rescued her.
Li suggested that he could help advance the payment, and Lu could repay it in installments. This sincere friendship made Lu deeply moved and even more obedient to Li.
A mysterious "goddess"
Gratitude comes from gratitude, and the amount of money to be repaid each month is not small. Just when Lu was exhausted, Wu mentioned that his mother had once consulted a divine grandmother for fortune telling, which was very effective, so he recommended it to Lu. Lu was already a bit superstitious and became friends with this goddess named "Yuan" on WeChat.
"I thought she was particularly good at fortune telling, such as when I was facing a disaster in prison," said Lu. Gradually, she opened up to fate and talked about many things to her. "Yuan" seems to also treat Lu as a confidant and help him at any cost.
"Don't go blindly looking at fortune telling. I see that your three souls and seven souls have already been taken away by two souls." "They haven't given up on harassing you, I've been suppressing you." "I've given you all my cultivation, and I won't show it to anyone again in the future." In their conversation, "Yuan" said to Lu. Another thing she often mentions to Lu is "spending money to alleviate disasters". Li is a noble person of Lu, and if you want to "alleviate disasters", you need to give all the money to Li, so that she can live a good life. "After you finish making the card money, give it to Li as soon as possible, and then go home and give some to your mother.".
In this way, Lu's monthly salary, as well as the retirement salary of his parents and grandparents, will be credited to Li's account on a monthly basis. For the most month, Lu and his family gave Li 130000 yuan.
"I dare not refuse to give it. Li said that my daughter owed a high interest loan and if she didn't repay the money, she would be taken away and ruined." Lu's mother said, "Later, when she saw her daughter's phone call, she was afraid and didn't even want to answer it." This is coming to kill me! "
However, with the help of fate, Lu truly believed that Li was his benefactor. Li sighed multiple times, if only he hadn't met Lu, so that he wouldn't have owed her a huge debt to help her pay the over 1 million yuan, and his relationship with his family would have been bad. All of this made Lu feel even more guilty, feeling that he not only owed Li money, but also owed her kindness.
Therefore, when Li and Wu traveled around and bought luxury goods with the money given by Lu, Lu did not raise any objections. The luxurious lifestyle of Li and Wu surprised the landlords. "Xiao Li's phones are all the latest models and can be replaced as soon as they are sold. Xiao Wu's cosmetics are the top of the line, not just ordinary luxury goods." The landlord said that once she saw the fruits they bought, and when she asked, she found out that a box would cost several hundred yuan. "Oh my goodness, they actually bought several boxes at once. They really have money."
make sb. see the light with one remark
These days lasted until 2018, and new troubles came again.
One day, Li told Lu that the leader of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau had retired, and the new leader wanted to thoroughly investigate the old case. Therefore, she had to ask her uncle, Director Zhang, to come forward and see if she could continue to clear the relationship. Of course, this also requires a large amount of money. However, the Lu family had already been squeezed dry and could not afford a penny.
Although there is no money, Lu still has a house in his hometown, and it is still within the scope of demolition and renovation. At the instruction of Li, Lu told his parents that he didn't study well outside and lost a lot of money gambling. Later, he borrowed money from his best friend Wu before paying it back. Now, in order to repay this one million yuan, we need to transfer the house in our hometown to Mr. Wu.
In September 2018, Lu's family signed a house transfer agreement with Wu. Although the agreement was signed, the demolition payment could not be redeemed for a while. At this point, "Yuan" contacted Lu and said that it was necessary to rent out the house in his hometown, otherwise something troublesome would happen. Soon, the Lu family signed a 10-year lease agreement with a homestay owner. The next day, the family was forced to move out of their home where they had lived for over 20 years and stayed with different relatives. "It's been 5 years, and the three of us haven't had a single meal together. We can't even get together during the Spring Festival," said Lu's mother.
As for the annual rent of 85000 yuan, Lu didn't keep a penny and gave it all to Li.
Lu's parents had thought about calling the police. They walked to the police station several times, but when they thought about the possibility of their daughter going to jail if they called the police, the old couple lost the courage to go in. So, the Lu family struggled until March 2023.
On this day, Lu chatted with a netizen he met online and talked about how he almost got caught for cashing out on his credit card. Thanks to his friend's righteousness, he gave himself the opportunity to "save money and avoid disasters". After speaking, she also showed the netizen her chat records with Li and Yuan. Quickly, the netizen told Lu that from the chat records, Li and Yuan should be the same person.
A word awakens the dreamer. Lu said that in that moment, she seemed to suddenly wake up from a nightmare, and all the unreasonable things that had happened in the past 8 years flooded her heart. She didn't hesitate and immediately went to the police station to report to the police.
For a period of time after reporting to the police, Lu often lay in bed all day long, recalling the nightmare like 8 years over and over again. What was wrong with him, how could he obediently obey Li, to the extent that even his parents were homeless?
Lu felt that the lies woven by Li and Wu were very clumsy and could be easily seen through by others at a glance. The reason why I am deeply immersed in it is related to the interaction mode of the three people. In the relationship between the three, Lu is in a subordinate position and will be suppressed in language by Li and Wu. For example, Li often says that Lu is not good-looking and that if he wants to find a partner in the future, he may need to undergo plastic surgery and so on. Combined with the traits of "flexible brain" and "wrist" exhibited by Li during her school years, Lu admired her very much. Unconsciously, Lu fell into Li's mental control and found it difficult to extricate herself.
A nightmare that lasted for 8 years
After being summoned by the police to the police station, Li and Wu confessed to all the facts of the crime. As the netizen speculated, "Yuan" is actually Wu's backup WeChat account. The so-called "divine prediction" is simply because it is her "good friend" who is talking to Lu.
Even in the detention center, Li still spoke fluently and incessantly. She admitted that she and Wu collaborated to deceive Lu over 1.5 million yuan, but believed that there was still a sincere friendship between the three of them. "In my imagination, the three of us should never be separated. I think Lu is the best person in the world to me." Li said. One time, when we went shopping together, he only glanced at a pair of shoes that cost 1000 yuan. Lu took out his credit card and bought them, even though she had no cash left on her at the time. "This really moved me."
Li's explanation for why he deceived Lu was that Lu was too lazy to bear it. According to Li, due to their good relationship, the three of them filled in each other's emergency contacts. In 2015, she received a call from the bank claiming that Lu owed more than 400000 yuan. After returning to the rented house, I saw Lu still lying in bed playing games. Knowing that she owed money and was not actively looking for a job, I was infuriated. So I took advantage of the police's doorstep to register the information of the floating population and secretly filmed a video to scare Lu. Unexpectedly, she really fell for it.
Li also claimed that he had wanted to confess to Lu more than once in the past 8 years, but was afraid that if he revealed the truth, he would lose his good friend forever. "It's more painful for me to separate the three of us than to go to jail." In Li's eyes, he treated Lu very well. Although he cheated her a lot of money, all of it was used for their daily expenses. "I don't know if Lu still recognizes her, anyway, we never leave her behind when we buy things. We buy what we buy for her, and she eats what we eat."
Regarding Li's words, Lu's reaction was: "If she had spent ten cents on me, I would have jumped down from upstairs now." Lu said that Li and Wu never brought themselves when they went on trips, bought luxury goods, ate, and drank. "Li always transfers 5-10 yuan to me, up to 20 yuan, and he always sends me a WeChat account behind my back, telling everyone that I have borrowed money from her again." Lu's mother also said that for eight years, her daughter wore old clothes and shoes that Li and Wu did not want. "If they don't want them, they give them to my daughter. She's like a baby."
In contrast, Wu's confession is more truthful. "Alas, to be honest, I never thought about deceiving Mr. Lu of his money. In 2016, Li told me that if Mr. Lu asked me if I had gone to dinner with Director Liu, you could just say you did." Wu said that she knew that Li was deceiving Mr. Lu of his money, but because all the money was used for their daily entertainment and consumption, she was reluctant to tell him the truth.
During the review and prosecution stage, the prosecutor of Pudong Procuratorate contacted Li's mother and asked if she was willing to compensate for the losses of the Lu family on behalf of Li. "We had already cheated her out of the money at home, which was over one million yuan. We have already borrowed it from our relatives and still owe it. We can't get any money out of it," said Li's mother over the phone.
In the end, Li committed the crime of fraud and was sentenced to 7 years in prison and a fine of 80000 yuan by the Pudong Court due to the fact that he surrendered himself, which could reduce the punishment. Wu, as an accomplice, was sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison and a fine of 60000 yuan. The court also ordered Li and Wu to continue to refund the remaining proceeds of the crime, along with the stolen money in the case, and to return them.
