Police capture prepaid fuel card fraud suspect
The suspect, surnamed Liu, is shown here after being detained by police.
A woman has been detained for allegedly bilking two unsuspecting buyers in a prepaid fuel card scam, police said on Tuesday.
The suspect, surnamed Liu, allegedly took about 600,000 yuan (US$89,000) from her victims.
On March 19, police in Putuo District were summoned to an office building on Daduhe Road where two people were engaged in a heated argument with Liu.
The two said that they paid about 200,000 yuan and 400,000 yuan respectively to Liu in exchange for discounted fuel cards, which she was unable to deliver.
Liu allegedly agreed to sell the cards at 50 percent off their face value.
Becoming suspicious, police took Liu and the two people back to the station for further questions.
Authorities eventually learned that Liu first sold the pair real gas cards at 70 percent their face value. She later pitched the more steeply discounted cards, claiming that they were procured through friends at a fuel company.
Liu allegedly confessed that she purchased the first batch of cards at their face value, but sold them at a discount to gain the trust of victims.
