A group of matchmaking companies in the south-western region is under police investigation for duping men who sought their help in finding a spouse.
At the heart of this deception were women posing as potential brides, targeting men from remote or small cities across the country and promising them a fast track to marriage.
The women who were encouraged to participate in the scam were often divorced and financially struggling, the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.
One woman allegedly managed to earn 300,000 yuan (RM184,001) in just three months, by engaging in multiple so-called “flash marriages” involving lightning-fast marriages followed by swift separations.
A statement released in September by a court in Guiyang, Guizhou province, said a local police station received 180 fraud-related complaints against matchmaking firms since March 2023.
In many instances, the victims were persuaded to marry within days of meeting their matches, paying hundreds of thousands of yuan in bride price and signing binding agreements with the companies.
These unions would end abruptly when the women vanished or demanded divorces, often after orchestrating constant conflicts.A woman who married a man in December 2023 claimed domestic violence to secure a divorce shortly after and kept the 170,000 yuan dowry. She also took a car bought by her husband.
The company then continued to introduce her to other men, concealing her marital history.
For a man from Hubei province, surnamed Liao, the experience was nothing short of a nightmare, the SCMP reported.
In May, he travelled to Guiyang to meet a prospective bride through a matchmaking company. Just two days later, they registered their marriage and he handed over 118,000 yuan (RM72,370) as a gift to her family.
Over the next two months, his wife repeatedly left their hometown to return to Guiyang and demanded expensive purchases such as a house and a car.
Liao later discovered she had hidden her past, including being a mother to five children.
When he tried to recover his money, he found the company had been shut down amid a police crackdown.
A former employee at one of these matchmaking firms revealed that they constantly received male clients, with 40 to 50 candidates available for dates daily. — The Straits Times/ANN
