Man held for defrauding ayi of cash

A man has been detained for allegedly defrauding ayi, or home helpers, by offering high salaries and then borrowing money from them before disappearing, Shanghai police said on Tuesday.

The suspect, surnamed Yu, made home service agencies recommend ayi and then asked them for money before disappearing, police said.

Pudong police received four reports regarding the case between January 1 and 11, and the amount defrauded was over 4,000 yuan (US$640).

An ayi surnamed Wu reported to police on January 11 that she lost over 1,500 yuan to the scammer.

Wu said she met the man, who is about 30 years old, at a home service agency on Zhangyang Road, and the man offered her 8,000 yuan a month to help nursing a child and cleaning an apartment.

The man then took Wu to a shopping mall on Lingyan Road S. and parted with her for a while, claiming that he had some business to do upstairs. Then the man appeared again asking her for 1,600 yuan for “emergency use”.

Wu said she complied and gave all available cash to him, but the man never showed up again after taking away the money.

Police said the suspect left a fake mobile phone number at the home service agencies.

After a few days, police tracked Yu down and caught him outside an internet café near Shangnan Road and Sanlin Road.

Yu allegedly confessed and said he defrauded the ayi because he didn’t have a job and needed money to spend on games.