Romance scammers used a propaganda mobile app of China’s Communist Party to cheat a divorcee out of 1.44 million yuan (US$223,300) despite urgent police warnings to beware of fraud.

The 36-year-old woman from Zhejiang province was the latest to be duped after downloading the party’s interactive patriotic education application. She believed a story cooked up by a Myanmar-based fraudster about his high-yield investment plan and transferred her savings to him.

Single women in their 30s to 50s are the most prone to falling prey to such scammers, as they often allow themselves to be picked up on dating or socializing apps such as “Soul,” “Taqu” and “Momo.”

In the case of the divorcee Xiaomin, the deceiver pretended to be a military serviceman and asked her to download the “Xuexi Qiangguo” application, a smartphone software that came with the teachings of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The name of the app roughly means to “learn how to make the nation strong.”

After gaining Xiaomin’s trust, the con man talked her into transferring her savings to his online bank accounts for what was said to be a high-return investment plan that, due to his government role, he could not join.

She had “invested” 1.46 million yuan and received 20,000 yuan in interest before the man disappeared, whereupon she was unable to withdraw any money. Officials told mainland Chinese media that the case was among those committed by cross-border criminals, many of them based in neighboring Myanmar, making investigation difficult.

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