China breaks up millionaire matchmaking caper

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - Chinese police have cracked a matchmaking ring whose members pretended to be millionaires, introducing themselves to lonely hearts for exorbitant fees, Chinese media reported on Friday.

Police in the northeastern coastal city of Dalian detained more than 10 members of the ring, which had obtained several million yuan from more than 1,000 people nationwide since last October, the Beijing News said.

Members of the ring, who registered their mobile phones with fake names, would cancel the numbers about 15 days after posting their advertisements and disappear, leaving the fooled clients, including farmers, workers and elderly officials, with no means to track them down.

The ring, comprising several matchmaking companies, claimed they could set up people with "big shots", or provide services as surrogate mothers, the newspaper said.

"All of these were fake," the newspaper quoted a local police officer as saying.

"When people came to consult, they would be warmly greeted and later would meet rich women or big shots who were in fact members of the group," it said, citing the police.

"If the clients had questions or doubts, the companies would ask them to turn to lawyers, who were also part of the ring."