Be alert to fraud traps for elderly people

BY THE END OF JUNE, more than 2,500 senior residents had reported to the police in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, that a gang had swindled them out of hundreds of millions of yuan by inviting them to deposit their savings in a club called Aifujia, or home of love and blessing, with the promise they would be admitted by a nursing home for free and also enjoy interest on the money they deposited. Qianjiang Daily comments:

The club, which claimed it had a reputable background, suddenly closed, and its senior executives have disappeared. It is estimated more than 1 million members of the club, mostly pensioners, are the victims of the fraud.

The fraudsters tapped into the elderly people's longing for a reliable nursing home. Many of them live alone, far from their children. Some of the victims were in fact very vigilant. But the sophistication of the gang's organization and tactics was beyond their imagination.