Outside the LPL esports scene, a major incident recently surfaced. Former LNG top laner Pandac revealed on stream that he was caught in a romance scam, losing over 400,000 yuan in 20 days. The scammer was the girlfriend of former WE jungler Sad. Not only was Pandac deceived, but Sad himself lost more than 4 million yuan. According to those who spoke with Pandac, all the victims were retired players, including a world champion, suspected to be Baolan.

To summarize this scandal, the woman behind the romance scam used her relationship with Sad to enter the LPL player companion and owner circles. She was very generous with money, often giving gifts to owners of companion services, which helped her build close ties. She also frequently ordered companions herself. With the filter of being Sad’s girlfriend, she quickly got to know many retired LPL players in a short time.

She talked investments with owners and money-making with players. The woman initially built a wealthy persona and then used two different sets of tactics to scam money from owners and companions respectively. Pandac’s experience is quite instructive: before meeting her, she had already built trust through Weibo by supporting Pandac’s pro career. Half a year later, she invited Pandac to play games together.

Encouraged by her and given her status as Sad’s girlfriend, Pandac trusted her naturally and fell for the scam. Her method was actually quite simple: she asked Pandac to transfer money to her, then a few days later would return it with some interest. Over 20 days, Pandac transferred money three times, totaling over 400,000 yuan. At first, she did return money, but after Pandac invested more, she disappeared without a trace.

Many owners who like to order companions were also attracted by her investment pitches and lost a lot of money. Victims said: from world champions to companions charging just hundreds per session, all were scammed by this woman. During a livestream, Huang Wayward mentioned hearing that the world champion victim was Baolan, though this has not been confirmed and Baolan has not responded. But if there is news, it’s likely true.

The most puzzling aspect of this romance scam is that Sad was involved in a “fake relationship.” The person scamming them is very likely a man because when this woman met players, she always sent a substitute (someone hired to meet them), and only chatted personally online. Throughout the scam, the organizer never appeared in person. This means Sad was in a fake relationship and lost over 4 million yuan.

If the scheme began a year and a half ago, it was a carefully planned romance scam. These players had clearly been targeted long ago. It must be said that retired LPL players are indeed wealthy; even Sad, who is not a top-tier jungler, has millions in savings. The income of top-tier players is unimaginable—players like Shuzi and Rouji likely have assets exceeding tens of millions.

The victims have already reported the case to the police, but recovering the money will be difficult because the scammers have vanished. Such a planned romance scam definitely had an escape plan in place. Honestly, the scam technique wasn’t sophisticated. If the players had paid more attention to official anti-fraud examples, they might not have been deceived. There’s no such thing as free money falling from the sky.

Conclusion:

The experiences of these scammed players serve as a warning to everyone: never trust strangers easily, especially when it comes to money. Remember, there’s no such thing as free money from the sky. Even if it seems so, it’s never meant for us. With vigilance, it’s hard to fall victim. I hope everyone watches more anti-fraud awareness videos.

What are your thoughts on this romance scam?

Feel free to leave your comments and join the discussion!