Across China: Tianjin

Net swindler nabbed

A man was detained by police in Tianjin for allegedly conning netizens by pretending to be a well-connected female official.

The suspect surnamed Pan, who named himself Soul Inducer online, claimed in a chat group of single white-collar workers that he was a woman secretary of a high-ranking local Party official and could offer advantages in job hunting or obtaining an academic diploma through his interpersonal network. When someone bought into the sweet talk and came to Pan, he asked for a considerable amount of money to "grease the palms of officials".