Vancouver Police are warning the Chinese community about a new “blessing scam” after elderly women were defrauded of nearly $150,000 cash and jewelry in November alone.
Police confirmed two cases where three scammers approached elderly women on the street. They convinced the women they knew a master of Feng Shui or a miracle doctor who could offer health and wealth, then persuaded them to retrieve their valuables for a blessing ritual.
In one incident on November 19, an elderly woman was convinced to travel by transit to her bank, where she withdrew $120,000 in cash and jewelry from her safety deposit box.
She brought it back in a bag to the scammers, who performed a fake blessing and swapped the bag with an empty one without the woman noticing.
In a separate case on November 16, a 74-year-old woman was scammed out of $14,000 cash after being told not to open the decoy bag until 11 days later.
The suspects—described as three Asian women—spoke Toisan, a Chinese dialect. Police believe the cases are linked and that other victims may be in the community.
“We are working hard to identify the suspects in these scams,” said Constable Megan Lui. “We’re encouraging people to have discussions with elderly family members to protect themselves from being scammed.”
