An historic scam has made its way to Vancouver Island, and it’s already cost one local elderly woman $50,000.
The so-called “blessing scam” is an elaborate fraud that capitalizes on strong cultural beliefs of some Chinese seniors, according to Victoria Police Chief Const. Frank Elsner.
The perpetrators of the scam cold call victims or approach them on the street, telling them there’s an evil spirit following them that will harm their families unless they undergo a blessing ceremony.
Victims are then told to place all of their money and valuables in a bag to be blessed.
“Of course, what happens in the meantime is the bag is switched, and the individuals get back an empty bag of nothing,” Elsner said.
In the elderly Victoria woman’s case, she was approached out of the blue in Chinatown and ended up forking over money and valuables totaling $50,000 – her entire life savings, according to the police chief.
Making it more difficult for investigators, Elsner said many victims of the scam don’t come forward to police out of embarrassment, and the thieves are free to keep on defrauding others.
“These people tend to get off scot-free,” he said.
Police are now trying to get the word out to Mandarin and Cantonese-speaking communities in the city with the help of the Intercultural Association of Greater Victoria.
The scam recently reared its ugly head in Vancouver, where three women from China were arrested following a cross-Canada investigation.
Victoria police are looking into whether those cases of fraud are somehow connected to the incident in Chinatown.
Anyone who has been contacted by fraudsters is asked to call Victoria police’s financial crimes section at 250-995-7309.
