A woman in her 60s disguised herself as a 20-year-old girl for a romantic online relationship with a young man, defrauding him of over 200,000 yuan to invest in virtual currencies, which led to a total loss.

According to Odaily Planet Daily, the Haidian District Court recently ruled on a fraud case. A retired elderly woman, surnamed Meng, became obsessed with virtual currency trading but was unwilling to use her own pension. By disguising herself as "Xiaohong," a staff member in her 20s from a central ministry, on a short video platform, she established an online romantic relationship with a young man. Under the pretexts of urgent surgery fees for a family member and exam preparation abroad, she defrauded him of over 200,000 yuan in total.

Meng invested all the defrauded 200,000 yuan into virtual currency trading and enabled 10x leverage. Subsequently, due to a market downturn, she faced a liquidation event, resulting in the complete loss of all funds. The Haidian District Procuratorate had previously filed a public prosecution against Meng for fraud. Ultimately, the Haidian District Court sentenced Meng to 4 years in prison, imposed a fine, and ordered her to compensate the victim for the economic losses. (Beijing Evening News)