Taiwanese woman in her 70s believed she's helping singer Fei Yu-ching after 'accident', scammed over S$422,800

In February 2025, a Taiwanese woman in her 70s received a Facebook message from a person claiming to be singer Fei Yu-ching, saying he got into a car accident in Japan and urgently needed money.

A die-hard fan of the 70-year-old Taiwanese singer, the woman was more than willing to help her idol, to the extent she used her own savings to help him.

She was also sent a photo apparently of Fei in a wheelchair with his right leg bandaged, surrounded by nurses, EBC News reported.

It all looked real.

After eight months and transferring some NT$10 million (S$422,800), the woman realised she had been scammed.

A deepfake image

According to EBC News, the scammer targeted the woman after noticing that she frequently engaged with a Facebook fan page for Fei by liking and commenting on its posts.

The impersonator reached out to her via a Facebook direct message, posing as Fei.

Fei, a veteran Taiwanese singer and TV host, announced his retirement from the entertainment industry in 2019.

The image that the woman received of Fei in a wheelchair was generated using artificial intelligence (AI), CTi News reported.

The scammer initially asked her for NT$350,000 (about S$148,000) to help pay for his hospitalisation and surgical fees.

Subsequently, the scammer contacted her again to ask for NT$6.5 million (about S$275,000) for an alleged second surgery, and later another NT$1 million (about S$42,300) to supposedly fund an orphanage in Hong Kong.

After she provided the money, the scammer even sent her AI-generated images of children holding up cards expressing their gratitude, which made the woman more convinced all of it was real.

In the end, the woman not only gave her own money, but also shared the fake photos of Fei to her friends, and borrowed NT$1.75 million (about S$74,000) from them to help "Fei".

Eventually, one of her friends got suspicious and advised her to make a police report, which finally revealed the scam, CTi News reported.

Not the first Fei Yu-ching impersonation

Previously in 2023, a Singaporean woman was also scammed by someone who posed as Fei and asked her to be in a relationship together.

The woman, a 71-year-old with terminal breast cancer, lost S$80,000 to the person.

Following the Taiwanese woman's recent incident, Fei's manager has released a statement, clarifying that Fei has never opened any social media accounts or fan pages.

All accounts contacting fans while claiming to be Fei are impersonations, the manager added.

Top images from 亭亭玉清_2006/Weibo and Canva