A man was swindled out of 12,900 yuan ($2,100) by another man, whom he met through Wechat and believed to be a woman, in Foshan, Guangdong province, the Nanfang Daily reported on Thursday.

The 28-year-old man, surnamed Liu, passed himself off as a woman to defraud the victim, surnamed He, of the money through the mobile phone chat application in 17 transactions.

He forged a false identity card of his wife's cousin and used a fake name and a female identity in Wechat to befriend He in May. However, Liu refused to meet He for a date.

Liu is detained by police.