Pretty online lover turns out to be 130kg woman

When it comes to the Internet, people might not necessarily be who they say they are.

Some Taiwanese men learned about this the hard way when they found out that the attractive girl they were in an online romance with was actually a 130kg woman.

Most of them had believed that she was an attractive young woman, and over time had lent her money that amounted to a few million Taiwan dollars (several ten of thousands of Singapore dollars) in the course of a few years.

The woman, You Shu Juan, 26, was eventually arrested by the police and now faces trial for her crimes.

Taiwanese police also released information stating that You had stolen photos belonging to a certain Miss Liao, who is 24 years old.

You then used Miss Liao's photos on social networking sites, using fake names such as "Jia En", "Xia Xia" and "Xiao Juan". The names are commonly associated with young, attractive girls.

When men tried to befriend her online, You Shu Juan would then attempt to establish a relationship with them.

Eventually, her online "lovers" would be told that she needs to borrow some money for various reasons, ranging from the need to undergo an operation or needing to pay her parents' medical bills.

After getting the cash, You would begin distancing herself from the men. If someone asked to meet her, she would agree and then back out at the last minute.

The case came to light after a certain Mr Lim, who had lent You some $1,500, reported his loss to the police.

Police investigations revealed that very few of You's victims had seen her in person - of the 10 male victims interviewed by the police, only one had met seen her in real life.

The man, whose identity was not disclosed, had lent You about $10,000. Speaking about his reacting when he met You, "I was so shocked I think I just lost my mind. It was like a bad dream!"

As for Miss Liao, whose photos were stolen by You Shu Juan, she had expressed anger at her pictures being used for such a scam.

"Was it because you looked like a Little Miss Dinosaur, that you had to take someone else's photos to pose as a pretty woman online?", Miss Liao wrote on her blog.