46 Foreign Women Trafficked in One Shocking Case of Matchmaking Scheme
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On April 17, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate released an official bulletin exposing serious crimes within the matchmaking industry. From January 2024 to March 2025, prosecutors handled cases involving 1,546 individuals. One of the most shocking was the case of Wan, who trafficked 46 foreign women into China and profited by repeatedly selling them into sham marriages.
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The Case of Wan: Marriage as a Commodity
According to the report, Wan illegally organized for 46 foreign women to enter China, some through smuggling or visa fraud. Despite knowing that some of them were already in factual marriages, Wan arranged for them to marry single men in various regions—multiple times. Through this operation, they earned approximately 1.33 million yuan. Prosecutors described the case as involving human trafficking, illegal border crossing, and fraud.
A Pattern of Crimes in the Marriage Industry
Authorities highlighted four major types of criminal activities emerging in the matchmaking sector:
01 Fraud by "Professional" Matchmakers
Some scammers posed as licensed agencies to earn victims' trust.
In one case, Wang and four others pretended to run a legitimate matchmaking company and introduced already-married women to clients. With fake contracts and verbal promises, they tricked six victims into paying 890,000 yuan in fees.
In another, Zhang registered a media company and recruited women from KTVs and bars to act as fake partners, ultimately scamming 128 individuals out of over 2.5 million yuan.
02 Fake Identities and Romance Scams
Weak verification on dating platforms allowed criminals to use false identities.
For instance, Su posed as a police officer using forged documents, then convinced victims to transfer 89,000 yuan under false pretenses like "emergency medical costs."
Similarly, Xu, who was already married with children, deceived a victim into a fake romantic relationship and defrauded them of 3 million yuan, citing fabricated family tragedies and investment opportunities.
03 Illegal Cross-border Matchmaking
Despite regulations banning foreign marriage introductions by domestic agencies, some violated the law for profit.
In the Huang case, suspects advertised international matchmaking online, either smuggling women into China or taking male clients abroad to "select brides."
Zhu, who operated a matchmaking service, facilitated 12 instances of illegal cross-border matchmaking, promoted via social media.
Most notably, Wan trafficked 46 women into China and orchestrated their repeated "marriages," generating substantial illegal revenue.
04 Dating Platforms as Scam Funnels
Some fraud groups used dating sites as gateways to lure victims into financial traps.
In one case, Chen and their associates pretended to be wealthy men, guiding victims to a gambling site they controlled, defrauding 26 people of over 8.47 million yuan.
Another group led by Li and Fu, trained by overseas telecom fraud syndicates, used multiple matchmaking platforms to impersonate rich suitors, scamming victims of 16.79 million yuan under fake investment schemes.
The Procuratorate stressed that a healthy matchmaking market requires strong regulatory oversight, lawful business conduct, and vigilant consumers. They called on matchmaking agencies to uphold legal and ethical standards and urged the public to choose services cautiously and report illegal activity to authorities.
Source: 最高人民检察院
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