Woman spends boyfriend’s $140,000 savings on cosmetic surgery: ‘How could I find someone this naive?’

What happens when trust meets a beauty obsession — and a little too much influence? For a man in China, it was a lesson in how quickly money can vanish.

Jin, who asked to be identified only by his first name, had slowly entrusted over one million yuan (US$140,000) to his girlfriend, Min, over the course of several years. The reasoning was simple: he wanted her to feel financially secure as their relationship deepened. After all, Min had moved from Jiangxi province to Chongqing to live with him, and Jin thought giving her control over some of his savings would offer her stability.

For a long time, the money sat untouched. But everything changed in 2022 when Min crossed paths with Li, a woman claiming to be a shareholder at a local beauty clinic. Li quickly became Min’s confidante in Chongqing, influencing her decisions in ways Jin could never have imagined.

“She told me she wanted to be my friend and share everything with me. She would send me photographs of luxury goods and ask me to help choose," Min told Chongqing Broadcasting Group.

It didn’t take long for Min to start following Li’s advice — and spending big. Li encouraged her to undergo expensive cosmetic procedures at Fubiweifu Medical Beauty Clinic, subtly creating insecurities along the way. “After that, I transferred more than 70,000 yuan for an arm liposuction procedure,” Min recalled, explaining how she felt compelled to pursue plumper lips, smoother skin, and the appearance of wealth.

Over the next three years, Min spent more than two million yuan on cosmetic treatments, including 1.3 million yuan at the Fubiweifu clinic alone between April 2022 and June 2024. Jin only discovered the scale of the spending when he asked her for 200,000 yuan to cover a cash flow issue — and Min simply couldn’t provide it. The truth hit hard: the money was gone.

The situation was worse than he feared. Many of the procedures had been dramatically overpriced, with one treatment costing 750,000 yuan when the actual price was 120,000 yuan. Reports suggest Li personally profited by over 900,000 yuan from Min’s spending spree.

Jin admitted he was stunned by the revelation. “How could I find someone this naive?” he said. Min, meanwhile, revealed she had trusted Li without question. “I never thought to question the prices. It completely shattered my worldview,” she admitted. To make amends, she has even offered to sell her Porsche 911 to help repay Jin.

Min also pointed to Jin’s frequent compliments toward other women, which had fueled her insecurities. Jin acknowledged that his work often kept him away, unintentionally leaving space for doubts to grow.

According to SCMP, Li has agreed to return 560,000 yuan, and despite the financial and emotional rollercoaster, Jin and Min have chosen to stay together and continue their relationship.