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Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

Shanghai: a man transferred 170,000 yuan over a five-month online romance with a '1992-born hospital doctor' whose roughly 7,000 videos were AI-processed fabrications by a 65-year-old woman; police took criminal coercive measures

police, as presented by the Kankan News programme 案件聚焦 (Case Focus), reported in September 2026 that a Shanghai property-engineering contractor had transferred 170,000 yuan in total during a five-month online relationship with a woman he had met on a social platform in 2021. She presented herself as born in 1992, a doctor at a well-known top-tier hospital with hospital property-engineering projects to award, and ran an account with more than 10,000 followers and close to 7,000 short videos of daily life. She refused to meet or take a video call, saying her mother opposed the relationship and demanded a 300,000 yuan bride price and a Shanghai flat; the man reported to a police station when the promised projects never materialised and his savings ran down. Police found she was born in 1961, aged 65, had no medical qualification and had worked as a hospital cleaner; the receiving bank account was registered to another man; the videos were all made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing, some carrying a small 'this work contains AI-generated content' label he had never noticed; and she used multiple accounts to play both herself and her long-dead mother. The money had gone on cosmetic treatments and clothing; she had a 2009 fraud conviction with a sentence of four and a half years and is now under criminal coercive measures for suspected fraud. Police also said she kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people; no other losses are reported.

AI system
Unidentified AI video-editing tool
Occurred
2025
Reported
15 September 2026
Event location
China
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Financial Loss
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Relationships · Finance
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 4 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: AI video processing ('AI磨皮、场景合成': AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing) used to produce close to 7,000 short videos of a fabricated young 'doctor' persona; tools not identified

What Happened

According to the police programme as relayed by Jiupai News, Jiaohuidian and Guangming Net, the man had known her since meeting her on a social platform in 2021; she claimed to be a 1992-born doctor at a well-known tertiary hospital with property-engineering project resources, which interested him because he contracts such work. Frequent chatting began the year before the report and a relationship followed. She said her mother strongly opposed it, demanded a 300,000 yuan bride price and a flat in Shanghai, and would not let them meet; over five months in the same city he never saw her, and video calls were refused on the ground that the mother was watching. In those five months he transferred a total of 170,000 yuan for 'project handling' and daily expenses. Police found the woman's real date of birth was 1961, that she had no medical qualification and had only done hospital logistics cleaning, and that the receiving account belonged to another man. Officers who browsed her videos noticed a small corner label on some of them stating that the work contained AI-generated content, which the victim, who runs an offline business and knew nothing about AI video, had never noticed; the near-7,000 videos and 10,000-plus followers were all built with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing. Police also established that she had used multiple accounts to play both herself and her deceased mother, so the 'mother's opposition' was a script to avoid meeting. She was summoned after evidence was secured; the 170,000 yuan had been spent on cosmetic skin treatments and clothing, and she had been sentenced to four years and six months for fraud in 2009. The police used the case to warn that polished short videos and attractive personas can be fabricated with AI.

Reported harm

A Shanghai man transferred 170,000 yuan over five months to a fabricated 'doctor' persona whose videos police found were AI-processed; the money is reported spent and no recovery is reported.

Outcome

Ongoing

Police investigation after the victim's report; the suspect was summoned and placed under criminal coercive measures (刑事强制措施) for suspected fraud, as reported 15 to 16 September 2026. No prosecution, trial or recovery of funds is reported.

What remains unknown

  • The months of the five-month relationship and of the police report are not stated; frequent chatting began in 2025 per Guangming Net, so the first known event year is recorded as 2025 at year precision.
  • The AI tools used to make the videos are not identified.
  • Whether prosecutors have charged the suspect, and whether any money was recovered, is not reported.
  • Whether any of the more than ten other contacts lost money is not reported.
  • The Kankan News 案件聚焦 broadcast page was not readable (script shell); the programme's account is known through press relays.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. police, via the Kankan News programme 案件聚焦, said officers found an AI-generated-content label on some of the suspect's videos and established that her roughly 7,000 videos were produced with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing. The AI content depicted a fabricated young persona shown to the victim, which is why depicted_or_impersonated is recorded; the chat itself was conducted by the suspect, so communicated_with is not recorded. Single official chain relayed by several outlets.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Over five months the man transferred a total of 170,000 yuan to a woman he had met on a social platform in 2021 who claimed to be a 1992-born doctor at a well-known top-tier hospital with property-engineering projects to award; she refused meetings and video calls citing her mother; he reported to the police when the promised projects never materialised.

Causal attribution. police account via the programme 案件聚焦, relayed by Jiupai News and Guangming Net; single official chain.

  • news.qq.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    «对方自称1992年出生，是知名三甲医院医生，手握医院物业工程项目资源» (she claimed to be born in 1992, a doctor at a well-known tertiary hospital, holding hospital property-engineering project resources); «陆续向对方转账共计17万元» (transferred a total of 170,000 yuan in instalments); «就连想要打一通视频电话，对方也会以母亲在一旁看管作为理由拒绝» (even a video call was refused on the ground that her mother was watching); «反复回想交往细节，…越想越不对劲，才到派出所报案» (thinking back over the details he felt something was wrong and went to the police station).
  • m.gmw.cn(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    «在短短5个月时间里，…陆续向对方转账共计17万元» (in just five months he transferred 170,000 yuan in total); «去年开始与其频繁聊天» (frequent chatting began last year, i.e. 2025).
Reported Police found the woman was born in 1961, aged 65, had no medical qualification and had worked as a hospital cleaner; her close to 7,000 videos were made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing, some carrying a small 'contains AI-generated content' label the victim had never noticed; she used multiple accounts to play herself and her deceased mother.

Causal attribution. Police findings as presented in the programme; no independent chain.

  • news.qq.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    «实际出生于1961年，现年65岁，她并无医生资质，仅曾在医院从事后勤保洁工作» (actually born in 1961, now 65, no medical qualification, had only done hospital logistics cleaning); «注意到部分视频角落有一行小字提示：本作品含AI生成内容» (noticed a small corner label on some videos: this work contains AI-generated content); «累计近七千条日常视频、上万粉丝，全都是AI磨皮、场景合成制作而成» (nearly 7,000 videos and 10,000-plus followers, all made with AI skin-smoothing and scene compositing); «一人分饰两角，利用多个账号，分别扮演自己和早已离世的母亲» (played two roles through multiple accounts, herself and her long-dead mother).
  • m.gmw.cn(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    «…社交账号发布的累计近7000条日常视频、上万粉丝，全都是AI磨皮、场景合成制作而成» (the account's nearly 7,000 videos were all AI-processed).
Reported The 170,000 yuan was spent on cosmetic skin treatments and clothing; the woman had been sentenced to four years and six months for fraud in 2009; she is under criminal coercive measures for suspected fraud.

Causal attribution. Police statement relayed by press.

  • news.qq.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    «全部被她用于医美护肤、购置衣物等个人挥霍。2009年，她还曾因诈骗罪被判处有期徒刑四年六个月» (all spent on cosmetic treatments and clothing; in 2009 she was sentenced to four years six months for fraud); «因涉嫌诈骗罪，已被公安机关依法采取刑事强制措施» (criminal coercive measures taken for suspected fraud).
  • stheadline.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    «…曾于2009年因诈骗罪被判监4年半。目前，…因涉嫌诈骗罪已被公安机关采取刑事强制措施» (2009 fraud sentence of four and a half years; now under criminal coercive measures).
Reported Police said the woman simultaneously kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people; no loss by anyone else is reported.

Causal attribution. Police statement relayed by the Epoch Times; context only, no further victims quantified.

  • epochtimes.com(opens in new tab) supports · Chinese
    «同时与十余人保持暧昧关系» (simultaneously kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people). (police-attributed sentence in the Epoch Times)
  • m.gmw.cn(opens in new tab) context · Chinese
    headline: '65岁阿姨AI换脸装“90后”美女，谈10多个暧昧对象' (the s1 body text does not repeat it)

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Guangming Net, 16 September 2026, sourced to 贵阳晚报). Marks the victim's name as a pseudonym (化名). Same police-programme chain as the other sources. Model-read original; English glosses unreviewed by a bilingual human. Chain line '综合：法治日报、案件聚焦、深圳新闻网'. Applies to s1.

Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Jiupai News on Tencent News, 15 September 2026; body recovered from the page's script payload). Carries the attribution line 来源：案件聚焦、看看新闻. Same chain as s1. Its lede reads '五年网恋' where its body and s1 say five months; the Jiaohuidian copy of the same text reads '关注对方账号五年、五个月网恋', so the lede is a truncation. Jiupai does not mark the names as pseudonyms; s1, s3 and s4 do. Applies to s2.

Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Sing Tao Headline, Hong Kong; '综合内媒报道', a digest of mainland reports). Marks both names as pseudonyms. Same chain. Applies to s3.

Read in Chinese on 2026-09-19 (Epoch Times, 17 September 2026; '据大陆媒体报导'). Adds the police statement that the suspect kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten people. Same chain. Applies to s4.

Event countries: China. Affected-person countries: China. Court countries: Unknown.

The victim is described as a Shanghai man (上海男子), the two were in the same city (同在一个城市) and the demanded flat was in Shanghai (在上海购置房产); no court proceeding is reported.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-19: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an impersonation case with a documented 170,000 yuan loss to one person, where police examined the AI-processed videos and their AI-content label. One official chain relayed by several outlets, so claims are recorded as reported. Both parties are pseudonymised in the reporting and the pseudonyms have been elided from the quoted passages here.

People described

One man in Shanghai who contracts property-engineering work (pseudonymised in reporting), not further identified; the accused is a 65-year-old woman, a former hospital cleaner with a 2009 fraud conviction (pseudonymised in reporting)

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One man with a documented loss of 170,000 yuan. Police said the suspect kept ambiguous relationships with more than ten other people, but no loss by anyone else is reported, so they are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-generated-video#synthetic-persona#romance-fraud#shanghai#china#financial-loss#police-reported#ai-content-label

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Shanghai: a man transferred 170,000 yuan over a five-month online romance with a '1992-born hospital doctor' whose roughly 7,000 videos were AI-processed fabrications by a 65-year-old woman; police took criminal coercive measures. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-shanghai-ai-generated-persona-online-romance-fraud-170k-yuan

BibTeX

@misc{2026_shanghai_ai_generated_persona_online_romance_fraud_170k_yuan,
  title = {Shanghai: a man transferred 170,000 yuan over a five-month online romance with a '1992-born hospital doctor' whose roughly 7,000 videos were AI-processed fabrications by a 65-year-old woman; police took criminal coercive measures},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-shanghai-ai-generated-persona-online-romance-fraud-170k-yuan}
}

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