118 held in China for duping elderly people of $3 million with healthcare products

Over 100 people have been arrested in China for allegedly cheating senior citizens of about $3 million by selling healthcare products.

The 118 suspects were members of a fraud ring - masterminded by Changsha Yunyi Technology, a company based in Hunan Province - that organised health lectures and promised free prizes and vacations to earn the trust of the elderly, Wenzhou city police in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province said.

The victims were persuaded, with false advertising, to purchase costly healthcare products. The frauds also promised to return the cash.

When the victims paid the money, the suspects vanished, state run Xinhua news agency reported.

Police said that seniors usually have money and property, and were interested in products promising to improve their health, making them targets for fraud, it said.

Police have solved 520 cases of seniors being targeted by the fraud ring across the country. Further investigation is underway.