Fake State-Endorsed Crypto Pension and Rehabilitation Fund Scam: Impersonating digital RMB promotion institutions and exploiting guaranteed-return senior care investments to harvest the life savings of the elderly

Who Gets Targeted

The victims are primarily urban seniors aged 60 to 80 living alone or semi-independently, who possess some savings and pensions but have virtually no foundational awareness of the digital RMB, blockchain, or crypto assets. They generally trust individuals in uniform, red-header documents, and those who can cite policy reference numbers, while maintaining a long-term reliance on wellness seminars and community welfare activities, along with a deep yearning for companionship to help plan their retirement. Their psychological vulnerability lies in the extreme desire to find a safe, high-return retirement outlet amid the uncertainties of aging and medical expenses, combined with the fear of being perceived by their children as senile. Consequently, they prefer seeking help from strangers over telling their family members, leading to step-by-step interrogation and gradual brainwashing, and ultimately resulting in them withdrawing money from the bank and handing it over to the scammers.

骗局怎么运作

• Step 1: Community Penetration. The gang registers shell companies under names such as health management companies, senior service centers, and digital RMB promotion service stations, renting community activity rooms or storefronts along the street, and deploying young people wearing white shirts and work badges for grassroots outreach. They initially attract seniors to the venue through free health checks, wellness lectures, senior care lunches, and holiday care packages. Throughout the process, their attitude is respectful and gentle, repeatedly emphasizing that they are record-filed senior care service pilot units, gradually lowering the seniors' guard and transforming strangers into approachable, trusted figures.
• Step 2: Policy Endorsement Packaging. The gang forges red-header documents and brochures stamped with ministry names, pilot reference numbers, and official seal designs. Their pitch splices together real policies such as digital RMB pilots, senior care service system construction, and the development of the wellness industry, claiming that the state is issuing a digital senior care rehabilitation fund targeted at seniors with clearly defined, principal-protected returns. Throughout the explanation, they repeatedly drop the digital RMB, emphasizing that it is backed by state credit with zero risk of loss, tricking seniors into believing they are participating in a formal inclusive senior care policy.
• Step 3: Directing Victims Toward Crypto Assets. In small seminars, the lecturer introduces a so-called senior care-specific digital coin or senior care chain token, claiming it is tied to the digital RMB settlement channel and that its price will only rise in a single direction. Seniors only need to subscribe to shares using their retirement savings to collect monthly rehabilitation returns, which can be used for wellness tourism, physical therapy, nursing care, and community canteens. The pitch deliberately avoids the high volatility attributes of crypto assets, manufacturing a sense of urgency using phrases like guaranteed returns, state backing, and limited quotas. Swept up in the herd mentality, seniors often register their intent on the spot.
• Step 4: Exclusive Account Inducement. Sales agents conduct door-to-door visits or invite seniors to the so-called service center to assist them in downloading unverified applications, requiring an ID card, mobile phone number, facial recognition, and the senior's personal bank card to register. Inside the application, forged digital RMB labels and fake balance figures are displayed, accompanied by a steadily rising earnings curve to let seniors visually witness daily payouts. Transfers frequently require seniors to go to the counter to withdraw cash or split amounts into multiple small-scale transfers to bypass bank large-transaction alerts, under the pretext of system risk control and quota reviews.
• Step 5: Continued Fund Retention and Secondary Harvesting. Initially, some seniors are indeed able to withdraw small returns from the application. Subsequently, agents persuade seniors to add more retirement savings or even mortgage their properties under the pretext of earnings upgrades, rehabilitation level enhancements, and time-limited allocations. When seniors attempt to make large withdrawals, the application prompts account anomalies, demanding margin fees and overdue rehabilitation service fees, while agents pacify and stall them. Once they sense police involvement, the gang has often deregistered the company, changed venues, and destroyed documents, leaving the senior with nothing more than an unredeemable electronic contract.
• Step 6: Counter-Reconnaissance and Personnel Isolation. The gang features internal roles including lecturers, sales agents, customer service, risk control, and logistics. Core personnel do not directly contact seniors, and front-line sales agents mostly originate from out of town and use aliases. Collection accounts are frequently changed to personal cards or shell company accounts, and funds are rapidly split and transferred upon arrival. The gang also irregularly changes office locations to avoid maintaining a long-term presence in the same community, creating massive obstacles for police evidence collection and seniors seeking rights protection.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 The counterpart repeatedly emphasizes state backing, digital RMB downside protection, and principal-protected guaranteed returns, yet fails to produce verifiable official document numbers, while document seals are blurry or inconsistent with public samples.
• 🚩 The publicity features fabricated terms such as senior care-specific digital coin, senior care chain token, senior care chain, and rehabilitation fund shares, while claiming they are tied to digital RMB settlement and single-direction price increases—a direct contradiction of official digital RMB explanations.
• 🚩 Seniors are required to download applications from unofficial channels, submit ID cards, facial recognition, and bank cards during registration, and withdraw cash or split transactions to bypass bank risk controls during transfers.
• 🚩 Sales agents frequently make home visits or schedule meetings at designated locations, repeatedly instructing seniors not to inform their children and bank tellers while emphasizing limited quotas, time-limited allocations, and earnings upgrades.
• 🚩 The application only displays a constantly rising curve and payout records, cannot be searched for in official app stores, and customer service phone numbers are unreachable or consistently demand further investments.
• 🚩 Small withdrawals are successful early on, but later large withdrawals require paying margin deposits, catching up on unpaid rehabilitation service fees, and complying with account unfreezing. The appearance of any single item confirms the scheme is a scam.

真实案例

• In May 2022, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released typical cases regarding the punishment of crimes and violations related to senior care fraud. Among them, a case in Hebei involved defendants who absorbed funds from elderly groups under the guise of senior care services and digital asset investments by forging project materials and exaggerating returns. They were ultimately prosecuted for the crime of illegal absorption of public deposits, involving massive sums of money and leaving multiple seniors with zero savings for retirement. Relevant legal documents have been published on the website of the Hebei Provincial People's Procuratorate.
• In August 2025, the Ministry of Public Security announced 5 typical cases of illegal fundraising crimes in the senior care sector. Multiple cases involved promising high returns to seniors and absorbing funds under the names of wellness projects, digital assets, and pension funds. These cases were all identified by regulatory authorities as typical fake senior care wealth-management illegal fundraisings, with victims spanning multiple provinces. (Source: [http://www.ah.xinhuanet.com/20251031/4505cdbd78ee49c6b907a8911061c769/c.html](http://www.ah.xinhuanet.com/20251031/4505cdbd78ee49c6b907a8911061c769/c.html))
• In April 2026, the Jiangsu Procuratorate Network disclosed a digital currency card fraud case handled by the Funing County Procuratorate. Criminals exploited the elderly's lack of awareness regarding the digital RMB and digital assets, inducing seniors to make purchases through pitches involving digital currency cards and senior care-specific digital assets. The procuratorial organ characterized it as a fraudulent dark scheme specifically targeting the elderly as they enter the digital age.
• In June 2022, in an illegal fundraising case in the medical-elderly care integration sector filed and investigated by public security organs in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, the main culprits registered and established a senior care industry company. Under the guise of a medical-elderly care integration model, they absorbed funds from the public by selling consumer cards and conducting internal capital increases and share expansions, promising a 20% interest rate over two years and initial public offering (IPO) equity returns. By the time the case broke, a total of 1.2 billion RMB had been raised, involving over 5,000 participants, of which seniors over 60 accounted for 95%. (Source: [https://www.hunantoday.cn/news/xhn/202508/30193617.html](https://www.hunantoday.cn/news/xhn/202508/30193617.html))
• In February 2023, in an illegal fundraising case concerning senior care service prepaid cards filed and investigated by public security organs in Ezhou City, Hubei Province, the main culprits used a nursing home under their actual control to categorize services into six tiers, ranging from experience cards to silver and gold cards. They claimed that paying a deposit granted senior care accommodation discounts and welfare subsidies with annualized interest rates of 8% to 11%, while promising to return the principal after 3 years. By the time the case broke, approximately 400 million RMB had been raised, involving over 3,000 participants, of which seniors over 60 accounted for 80%. 57 suspects, including the main culprits, were brought to justice and sentenced by the court in January 2025 for the crime of illegal absorption of public deposits. (Source: [https://www.hunantoday.cn/news/xhn/202508/30193617.html](https://www.hunantoday.cn/news/xhn/202508/30193617.html))

Official Stance

• In January 2026, the Office of the Financial Commission of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Financial Work Committee issued 'New Scripts for Senior Care Financial Fraud,' clearly pointing out that perpetrators have utilized AI forgery as bait and false care as a harvesting method to commit financial fraud against the elderly, reminding seniors and families to remain vigilant against senior care investment projects invoking new technologies.
• In August 2025, the Ministry of Public Security announced 5 typical cases of illegal fundraising crimes in the senior care sector, requiring various localities to prevent illegal fundraisings implemented under the names of wellness services, digital asset investments, and pension funds, and reminding the elderly to firmly safeguard their retirement money bags and avoid blindly trusting principal protection and high returns.
• In November 2022, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released typical cases of procuratorial organs punishing senior care fraud crimes, with cases from Hebei and other regions selected. It emphasized punishing and prosecuting acts that absorb funds from the elderly under the guise of senior care services and wealth management projects strictly according to the law, reminding seniors to be wary of any senior care investment claiming state backing and guaranteed returns.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Any senior care investment project claiming state backing, digital RMB downside protection, or principal-protected guaranteed returns should first be verified through the official digital RMB channels of the People's Bank of China or local financial regulatory authorities. Do not judge based solely on brochures and sales agents' verbal promises.
• ✅ Download applications involving funds exclusively from official mobile app stores or institutional official websites. Do not scan QR codes provided by strangers or click on unknown links to install applications, and under no circumstances enter sensitive information such as ID cards, facial features, or bank cards into unfamiliar applications.
• ✅ Before making large-scale transfers, make sure to inform your children, community staff, or bank tellers, proactively explaining the project name, collection account, and return commitments provided by the counterpart to let a third-party perspective judge any anomalies. Any instruction from the counterpart telling you not to inform family members can basically be classified as a scam.
• ✅ If you discover suspicious clues or have already transferred funds, dial 110 or the 96110 anti-fraud hotline immediately to report it to the police. Preserve chat logs, transfer vouchers, promotional materials, and application screenshots, and report the matter to the local Financial Supervision Bureau or Market Regulation Department to assist in freezing the implicated accounts.