Recently, Zhang Yan, a prosecutor of the People's Procuratorate of Jiangjin District, Chongqing, drove for an hour and came to the local Magou Village (pseudonym). Several elderly people saw the police car and came around to say hello to her, "Daughter, you are here."
In 2019, Zhang Yan handled a fraud case. The criminal gang used protein powder to pretend to be a magical drug that "treats all diseases" for sale at a high price. All the victims were elderly people over 60 years old. The village was the most serious, with a total of 282 elderly people being deceived.
More than two years have passed, are these elderly people doing well?
Every elderly person who has been deceived has lingering loneliness
75-year-old Mr. Wang and his wife have 4 children, all of whom are working outside and keeping them in the countryside. The third son unfortunately died while building a railway in Vietnam two years ago. Uncle Wang and his wife rarely mentioned this matter to each other. But sometimes, when the two of them sit in the yard, they will suddenly become silent.
"This protein powder was originally wanted to buy it to treat his hypertension and , but later he found out that he was cheated and he suffered from hypertension on the spot." Mr. Wang's wife joked. Uncle Wang echoed, "The protein powder is 'sweet', and later I could only drink it as sugar water. Besides, the money was returned to us later."
Uncle Wang's family's income mainly relies on the 125 yuan pension paid by the government every month, as well as the filial piety money given by the children during the holidays.
Because of this, Uncle Wang was worried about the weather for several consecutive days. Fortunately, the children did not blame him. During the Spring Festival, they tacitly respected the couple more money. Uncle Wang finally recovered and now he is not angry.
"What are you?" Mr. Chen, who was standing by, interrupted, "The scammer told me that the protein powder he sold was advertised during the prime time of CCTV at 7 o'clock. I bought 500 yuan of protein powder to cure headaches. I stayed on TV since 6:30 in the evening. Later, with the music of " News Broadcast ", I remembered how to put advertisements at 7 o'clock."
Mr. Chen is 67 years old this year. His eldest daughter works in Guangzhou for many years, and his younger daughter works in Jiangjin city. He was alone at home for a long time, and his wife was also taking care of her grandson in the city, and occasionally came back on weekends.
"The eldest grandson is in college, and the younger grandson is still in kindergarten. They are all ages that cost a lot of money. How can I ask the children for money?" Mr. Chen planted dozens of pepper trees. It took him three months to pick them last year, and his palms were covered with small mouths. The peppercorns were finally sold to the dealer at a price of 2 yuan per pound. After my wife and two daughters returned to the village, they heard that the season of "sprinkle money" saved by her old man was cheated of it.
For several weeks, the eldest daughter and the younger daughter took turns to "educate" their father, warning him not to be deceived again in the future. Finally, they coaxed and deceived Mr. Chen and took him to the hospital for a check-up. Before leaving, the two daughters quietly placed 500 yuan under Mr. Chen's pillow.
91-year-old Grandma Qiu also spent 1,500 yuan to buy 12 barrels of protein powder. Grandma Qiu has a good mental state and has a clear ear and eye. Only the old habit of rheumatism has troubled her for many years, with the most serious fingers and waist. In her words, "It hurts even if the weather is sunny and rainy." Grandma Qiu called the liar "big daughter". The liar said that protein powder is effective in treating rheumatism, so Grandma Qiu bought it. Not only her, but Grandma Qiu's two sons were also trapped.
Grandma Qiu once gave birth to 6 children, and now she is in the same family. She stands in 4 rows when taking family photos. Grandma Qiu's wife passed away three years ago. She lives alone and cooks three meals a day. The old man has a good mentality and was not very angry after learning that he was cheated. "They haven't come this year." There was indescribable loneliness in
's wrinkled smile.
The scammer recognized 8 "godfathers" and "godmothers" in a day
When talking about the scene when he was cheated, the old people still remember it vividly.
On October 10, 2019, the farm work in the fields was finished, and Uncle Wang and his wife were lying leisurely on the rocking chair at the gate. Two strangers found him and said they wanted to open a supermarket in the village, hoping to rent the courtyard for 50 yuan a day for opening promotion.
Uncle Wang is kind and has never quarreled with anyone. Although he didn't know each other, he still went back to the house to bring out the bench and tea to greet the guests.Uncle Wang is in poor health and suffers from severe hypertension. He cannot do too heavy farm work. Bazi was idle and idle. He discussed with his wife and decided to rent it to them.
Early the next morning, Mr. Wang found that his yard was built with a simple greenhouse and stage, filled with toothbrushes, tissues, rice cookers and other items. After hearing the marching car's shouting "free gifts", the old man from the village came to the scene half-believingly. Everyone present received a pack of tissues as they wished, and the old people were overjoyed.
The so-called "staff" has 3 people, at a middle age. Uncle Wang recalled that they were all very eloquent, "Uncle and Aunt" and "old people" kept greetings, keep stuffing small gifts into the old man's hands, and set up a gantry formation with everyone (to talk about family matters), which made the old man very happy. On this day, "staff" Xiaofen (pseudonym) recognized 8 "godfathers" and "godmothers".
Their words are almost the same - the company "Mr. Wang" is about to open a supermarket in the village. He is a shrewd and righteous businessman. In order to give benefits to the villagers, they are arranged to enter the village to carry out the "buy and get away" activity.
"If you buy, you will get a free!" But they would not say what they specifically gave, no matter how they asked.
An old man chose a bottle of cooking oil and a pack of salt and paid 18 yuan. After the "staff" packed the things, they immediately returned the 18 pieces to the old man intact. It turns out that "buy and get free" means not having money, which makes the elderly "suddenly realize".
The name "free" has a great temptation for the elderly. The next day, there were more elderly people coming to the scene. Uncle Wang was surprised to find that the second uncle, who had been paralyzed for many years, also came in a wheelchair.
"Today, our Mr. Wang is here and brings good products to the older generation. Just look at it." The "staff" have smiled. Accompanied by a loud music, "Mr. Wang", who claimed to be the owner of the supermarket, walked onto the stage with a little while wearing a suit.
"When I entered the village, I saw a son beating his old father on the side of the road. The old man's hair was all white. The unfilial son beat the old man (in dialect, referring to his father) and asked him to thunder. I got off the car and reasoned with his son. At first, he didn't get in, but later he finally listened to the words. When I left, I gave him a few hundred yuan, which moved the old man so much. Who has no difficulty in life..." "Mr. Wang" held the microphone and told with emotion.
"Mr. Wang" said that he is also from this village. His family was in a very difficult situation when he was a child. Fortunately, his mentor kept helping him. When he talked about this, his voice choked and his eyes were slightly moist. An old man nodded with relief from the audience.
"Without my mentor, there would be no me today. In a few days, my mentor's birthday will be celebrated. I will take my old people to have wine, and I will not pay the money for the members. I will simply add blessings and birthdays to my mentor!" "Mr. Wang" said passionately, and the old people applauded and applauded in the audience.
is filial, enthusiastic, successful business, and kindness - a perfect character is established like this.
Immediately afterwards, "Mr. Wang" changed his mind and solemnly recommended a "camel brand" protein powder product to everyone. "This protein powder can cure various diseases such as hypertension, rheumatism, cerebral thrombosis, prostatitis, , diabetes, and other diseases. It is very famous. Even cerebral palsy can be cured!"
"Only those who spend 10 yuan to buy a reservation card are eligible to buy protein powder tomorrow, and this 10 yuan will be refunded to everyone tomorrow. This is just to test everyone's sincerity." He repeatedly emphasized that the elderly should bring all the money.
The old people have an indescribable sense of intimacy with this "Mr. Wang". "He said that if he could get a refund tomorrow, he would definitely get a refund. It is clear that he wanted to give you protein powder for free." 1, 2, 3... The elderly have bought reservation cards one after another.
On the third day, the "staff" indeed returned the 10 yuan to the old man.
"Original price of 385 yuan per barrel, sold to everyone for 500 yuan today, first come first served. Remember it is 'buy and get free', we will be here to wait for everyone tomorrow!" The staff kept shouting with the loudspeaker.
The elderly rushed forward with their money and rushed to pay the money one after another. Some elderly people bought 6 barrels, while others bought 2 barrels.
However, the "staff" did not immediately return the money to them. "I thought at the time, it's okay, they will come tomorrow. I was so busy that day," said Grandma Qiu.
The next day, the elderly came to the yard early again, and the people on the scene went to the "shelf" empty. All they were greeted were the greenhouses that had not been cleaned up in time, and the confused Mr. Wang and his wife.
How to avoid "scam this village and that village"?
"Even if they don't refund the money, it doesn't matter. The protein powder is so magical, it's curable for my illness." Even so, there are many elderly people with this idea.
But the cruel fact is that the so-called "camel" brand protein powder worth 500 yuan mentioned by Mr. Wang, the cost per can is less than 10 yuan.
"They are all complete liars!" The old people learned the truth, which originated from the "revelation of the east window" in the next village. The fraud gang sneaked into the next village and "made" a protein powder scam as usual. An old widowed lady bought a bunch of protein powder for treatment. When her son found out, she immediately called the police. The old lady was so angry that she almost suffered a stroke. and .
news spread quickly in Magou Village, and the old people realized that the protein powder that "treats all diseases" was useless at all.
After investigation, from January to December 2019, 12 suspects including Tang and Yang went to rural areas in Jiangjin District, Chongqing, Yongchuan District, , Luzhou City, Sichuan Province, Chishui City, Guizhou Province and other places, to attract empty-nest elderly people to gather in the name of the newly opened large supermarkets in the local area, participate in free gift gift activities, and give the elderly a strong psychological hint of "shopping is refund" to commit fraud by giving back the goods after multiple sales.
"Tang and others packaged the extremely low-cost protein powder into a 'magic medicine', sold it to the victim at a high price and then fled with the money. The case only , Jiangjin District, , involved 16 villages, and the number of people being cheated was as high as 300." Zhang Yan introduced.
aims at remote rural areas where there are many migrant workers and few young and middle-aged people. Criminal gangs are roaming and committing crimes, with the number of deceived people and widely distributed. According to prosecutors' analysis, behind the frequent fraud of empty-nest elderly people, there are three different levels of reasons: cunning fraud, urgent illness and random medical treatment, and lack of children to accompany them.
According to reports, the fraud model of Tang and others can be divided into two stages: "front shed" and "back shed". The "front shed" is a 1 to 2-day preparatory stage. It uses free small gifts and shopping first and then refunds to attract the elderly to participate in the event, giving people a strong psychological hint of "shopping is refunds". The "back shed" is a 1 to 2-day implementation stage. The gang members pretended to be supermarket owners and appeared, falsely exaggerating the efficacy and price of protein powder, and used the card to screen the targets for accurate fraud.
"The fraud gang has clear goals and is specifically targeted at empty-nest elderly people in rural areas." Zhang Yan said that these elderly people are older, most of them do not live with their younger generations, have a single channel for receiving information from the outside world, and have poor awareness of fraud prevention. In addition, the elderly have poor coping ability after being deceived and rarely use methods such as calling the police to protect their rights. "If there were no children who called the police decisively, more elderly people would probably be deceived."
Zhang Yan also introduced, "In fact, when a child brings his parents to make trouble, the gang will choose to quietly pull him aside and refund the money, which is one of the reasons why the case has not been 'sudden' for a long time."
At the same time, there are also difficulties in recovering stolen money for such crimes, which has left many elderly people "lost all their money." After being arrested, the suspect still made various excuses on the grounds of "buying and getting a free one is not a promise to refund" and "it is just a high profit". He refused to admit the facts of the crime and refused to admit the return of the fraudulent losses. After repeated explanations by the prosecutor, some suspects pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, and returned more than 90,000 yuan of the relevant victims based on their identification, accounting for about half of the total crime.
The net of law is vast and unlimited without leaking. On September 10, 2020, after the Jiangjin District Procuratorate filed a public prosecution, Tang and 12 others were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from six months to six years for committing fraud, and fined ranging from 5,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan.
"One side is a fraud with many tricks and a variety of tricks, and the other side is a rural elderly group on an information island. This can be called a 'dimensionality reduction strike' in the field of crime." A relevant person in charge of the Chongqing Municipal Procuratorate said.
He introduced that the current fraud crimes in rural areas mainly present the fraud targets mainly target elderly women, fraud methods mainly utilize lack of knowledge, fraud types mainly adopt gang crimes, and fraud forms mainly choose to commit crimes in a trait. "Now, even in remote rural areas, the economic conditions of empty-nest elderly people are generally better. In the past, the common "health care product" fraud in cities is becoming more and more common in rural areas."
A data shows that Chongqing has 7.21 million elderly people over 60 years old, accounting for 21% of the total population, and the population aging rate ranks sixth in the country. For provinces in the central and western regions who go out to work, how to set up a "anti-fraud wall" in front of the vast number of rural elderly people and establish a rapid anti-fraud response and joint prevention and control mechanism is a problem of grassroots social governance that needs to be solved urgently.
"It is better to prevent it in advance than to strike afterwards." The People's Procuratorate of Jiangjin District, Chongqing City placed publicity and early warnings at the forefront of national anti-fraud, and reached a consensus with local town governments and public security organs to jointly build anti-fraud legal publicity. Since 2021, the prosecutor of "Sister Sha" has gone deep into rural and urban areas where there are a large number of left-behind elderly people, and opened the rule of law classroom to villages and communities, carrying out more than 10 "law delivery activities" and covering more than 3,000 people, effectively reducing the probability of being deceived.
"This follow-up visit found that with the continuous strengthening of anti-fraud and legal publicity by local town governments, especially public security organs, the people's awareness of anti-fraud has been greatly enhanced. In addition, the reasons for epidemic prevention and control have been caused, even commodity sales have been rarely seen in the past year." Zhang Yan said.
is not only a "selling health products through the hole", but also a lot of tricks to fool the elderly. Zhang Yan said that in recent years, telecommunications and network fraud have shown a high incidence. In the face of new types of fraud such as investment in pension projects, "national asset thawing", and online link viruses, the elderly generally have weak awareness of prevention and are easily deceived.
On May 7, the National Office for Combating and Rectifying Elderly Fraud held a national special action promotion meeting to inform the launch and publicity of the special action to combat and rectify elderly care fraud in various places, analyze the new situation and new problems encountered in the special action, deploy phased goals and tasks for combating and rectifying the rectification process, and promote the strong and orderly implementation of the national special action in accordance with the law. The meeting emphasized that we must resolutely eradicate the hidden dangers of elderly care fraud, adhere to the "three arrows" of publicity and education, crack down on and rectify the "three arrows" of rectification and regulation, severely punish the illegal and criminal activities of elderly care fraud in accordance with the law, extend the governance of fraud-related chaos that infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly, and create a good social environment for the elderly to enjoy a happy old age.
Next, Chongqing Public Security Bureau, Procuratorate and Judicial Bureau and other units will continue to devote themselves to the "anti-fraud prevention" legal publicity activities, strive to create a "golden bell cover" to prevent fraud and build a solid "firewall" of anti-fraud for the whole people.
Source: Chongqing Chang'an.com
