Fake Smart Home-Aging Renovation Scam: Posing as Government Subsidy Programs to Install Home Equipment, Collect Deposits, and Disappear

Who Gets Targeted

Victims are primarily elderly individuals aged 60 and above who live alone or are empty nesters separated from their children, as well as their children working elsewhere who are accustomed to showing filial piety remotely. Seniors have a vague understanding of government subsidy policies; hearing about subsidies and official backing makes them lower their guard. Fascinated yet unable to verify terms like AI and sensors, they are easily swayed by demonstration effects. Psychologically, they fear being a burden to their children while worrying about sudden illness going unnoticed. Scammers precisely exploit this health anxiety and loneliness, breaking down defenses one by one with pitches like free installation, full subsidies, and children's prior consent, and even inducing seniors to make payments behind their children's backs.

骗局怎么运作

• Step 1: Information Screening. Scammers collect lists of elderly people living alone through community health fairs, free medical check-up registrations, and express delivery station registrations. They filter out targets with chronic illnesses, absent children, property, or savings, and classify them by extractable amounts to prepare for precise door-to-door visits.
• Step 2: Identity Packaging. Wearing standardized work uniforms and counterfeit ID badges, fraudsters visit homes claiming to be third-party service providers for the Civil Affairs Bureau's smart elderly care program or designated installation units for the sub-district office. They present forged red-headed official documents and screenshots of cooperation agreements, using pitches such as 'This is a national subsidy project, you just need to sign, and the government reimburses the fees,' to create an official endorsement.
• Step 3: Device Demonstration. Carrying ordinary sensors or smart bands costing only a few hundred yuan, they demonstrate so-called AI heart rate monitoring and fall alarm functions on-site, playing pre-recorded warning videos. They falsely claim these can monitor early signs of heart attacks and strokes in advance and connect directly to top-tier hospital emergency channels, packaging ordinary electronic products as medical-grade equipment.
• Step 4: Fee Collection Setup. They claim the equipment is free but require deposits, service fees, or three-year data subscription fees ranging from thousands to over ten thousand yuan, promising a full refund once the subsidy arrives. They demand cash or QR code transfers to personal accounts, refuse to issue formal invoices, and provide only a receipt without an official seal, cutting off subsequent chains of evidence for safeguarding rights.
• Step 5: Disappearing and Fleeing. After receiving payment, the equipment is either uninstalled or goes offline immediately after installation. The promised health records and remote care services are never fulfilled. The shell company is dismantled, phone numbers are disconnected, and personnel evacuate. The entire team transfers to the next city, rebrands, and starts over. By the time seniors realize they have been scammed, several weeks have usually passed, missing the optimal period for accountability.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 The perpetrator initiates a home visit claiming to be a government project, yet cannot provide a contact person from the sub-district or civil affairs department to call for verification; official project rollouts typically start with community notices rather than strangers knocking on doors.
• 🚩 They demand that deposits, service fees, or annual fees be paid to personal accounts or unknown corporate accounts, while refusing to issue formal invoices with official seals.
• 🚩 The claimed medical-grade testing equipment lacks a medical device registration number searchable on the National Medical Products Administration website, and functional claims far exceed the scope of the product manual.
• 🚩 They rush you to sign and pay on the same day, creating a sense of urgency by claiming limited subsidy slots and immediate system closures, thereby preventing seniors from consulting their children.
• 🚩 Contract terms are vague, filled with disclaimers regarding device trials and health management, while avoiding terminology related to medical device and medical service qualifications.
• 🚩 The company's establishment date is very recent, registered capital is subscribed but unpain-in, and industrial and commercial information shows no medical device business license.

真实案例

• On June 17, 2026, the People's Court of Chengdu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in Sichuan concluded a public trial on a criminal case involving health product fraud. The defendant sold high-priced products to the elderly under the guise of health services. The case was disclosed in a special report on senior-targeted financial fraud published by CCTV on June 30, 2026, and the suspects involved have been investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.
• On June 30, 2026, CCTV News reported that Liwan police in Guangzhou investigated and cracked down on a case where a group lured elderly customers to raise funds under the guise of a wellness center. The gang used free trials and health testing as bait to induce seniors to make large-scale top-up consumption. The relevant suspects have been criminally detained by Liwan police in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.
• According to local police reports compiled by multiple anti-fraud platforms in June 2026, elderly care service scams have become one of the high-incidence categories hollowing out elderly accounts. Some seniors were charged fees under the guise of installing health equipment and purchasing elderly care bed services before the other party lost contact. Individual losses reached over 100,000 yuan, and younger generations failed to discover and stop it in time due to busy work schedules.

Official Stance

• On June 30, 2026, CCTV News Channel reported that Liwan police in Guangzhou investigated a fake wellness center senior financial fraud case, and simultaneously disclosed the health product fraud case concluded by the Chengdu High-Tech Zone Court, warning the public to be vigilant against senior-targeted scams disguised as health services.
• In June 2026, public security organs and anti-fraud centers in multiple regions across the country issued early warnings, listing a new type of scam targeting elderly accounts. They explicitly stated that any elderly care service marketing requesting transfers and payments under the guise of government subsidies and free installations must first be verified with community or civil affairs departments.
• Since February 2026, multiple media outlets, combining police reports, have reviewed high-incidence telecom and senior-targeted fraud methods of the year, pointing out that elderly care services and health equipment marketing have become key harvesting scenarios following AI face-swapping, and calling on children to actively participate in their parents' consumer decision-making.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ When receiving any door-to-door sales claiming to be a government elderly care project, hang up or see the visitor out immediately, and call the local 12345 government service hotline or sub-district community phone to verify whether the project exists and whether the company is commissioned.
• ✅ Enforce a 24-hour cooling-off period rule for any payments involving money. Do not transfer funds on the spot; first inform your children or trusted relatives and friends to discuss together. Genuine subsidy policies can withstand the wait.
• ✅ Before making a payment, log on to the official website of the National Medical Products Administration to check whether the equipment has a medical device registration certificate, and then use the official corporate credit publicity platform to check company qualifications and administrative penalty records, focusing on whether the registered address is a residential community and whether the business scope includes home appliance sales and installation.
• ✅ Refuse to transfer money to personal accounts, insist on corporate account payments, request formal invoices and contracts stamped with an official seal, and retain promotional flyers and chat logs as evidence.
• ✅ If you find yourself scammed, immediately call 110 to report to the police and contact the bank to attempt payment suspension, while simultaneously reporting to market regulation and civil affairs departments. The earlier you report, the higher the likelihood of recovering funds.