"Trap Wellness Center" Free Therapy Scam: Intestinal cleansing fluid mixed with soy sauce to harvest money from the elderly at high prices before fleeing with the funds

Who Gets Targeted

The vast majority of victims are retired, living-alone elderly people aged 60 to 80 suffering from chronic diseases or sub-health issues. With their children away, they long lack emotional comfort and professional medical guidance. They are naturally defenseless against sales pitches such as "free trials" and "expert free clinics." Due to having some savings and an extreme desire for health and longevity, their defense lines are easily softened by "warm companionship." The scammers use small gifts like eggs and cooking oil as bait, progressively using "detoxifying intestinal cleansing" mixed with soy sauce to fake rejection effects. This tricks the elderly into believing that "toxins in the body are being discharged," ultimately making them willingly empty their savings to buy high-priced therapeutic devices or health care kits, and some even pawned their gold bracelets to raise funds.

骗局怎么运作

• Site selection and traffic generation: Stores are mostly located around wet markets near old residential areas or community ground-floor shops. They hang eye-catching red signboards with vague brand names like "Baosuiyuan Health Home" to lure the elderly into the store, set up free blood pressure and blood sugar testing stalls at the entrance, and arrange "therapists" wearing white coats to warmly greet and attract lonely elderly people to queue up for registration and experience.
• Free experience and warm encirclement: After the elderly enter the store, "therapists" take turns providing free massage, electrotherapy, and hot compress services, offering warm greetings and chatting throughout the process. They proactively add WeChat to check in on them and visit them during holidays, creating an atmosphere "closer than their children." At the same time, they repeatedly ask about economic conditions and children to gauge consumption capacity, equipped with scripts tailored for various chronic diseases.
• Pseudo-scientific pitches and "detoxification" acting: Scammers claim that therapeutic devices can unblock meridians, accompanied by an "intestinal cleansing and detox" session. They pre-mix soy sauce or other dark liquids into the cleansing fluid. After the elderly defecate, they display the "dark brown toxins" and explain solemnly that accumulated toxins in the body have been discharged, accompanied by illusions such as a drop in blood pressure. This causes the elderly to shift from skepticism to firm belief.
• High-priced closed-loop and hunger marketing: Once the elderly are convinced of the "efficacy," they begin promoting high-priced therapeutic devices or health care kits priced at tens of thousands of yuan. The sales pitch creates a sense of scarcity with lines like "only five units left in stock" and "miss it and it's gone," offering "treatment installments" to induce loans. Staff accompany them to swipe cards for guarantees, prohibiting photography, video recording, or family accompaniment throughout the process, accepting only cash or personal WeChat transfers.
• Fleeing with funds and destroying evidence: Rapidly opening stores in multiple cities simultaneously to quickly collect money. When cumulative collections reach the target or regulatory signals are sensed, they close doors, dismantle signboards, delete WeChat accounts, remove devices, and collectively disappear. When the elderly discover the place is empty upon returning and call the police, they can often only provide vague names, making rights protection extremely difficult. Some victims lose over 500,000 yuan with no way to recover the stolen money.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Stores hang vague names like "Health Home" or "Baosuiyuan" without clear industrial and commercial registration full names or business license disclosures.
• 🚩 Photography and video recording are strictly prohibited throughout the experience, and family accompaniment is refused under the pretext of "protecting intellectual property rights."
• 🚩 Frequent use of free eggs, massages, and blood pressure checks to induce elderly individuals to register alone and add WeChat.
• 🚩 The color of the discharged matter from "detox intestinal cleansing" is suspiciously uniform, mostly forged toxic residue created by additives such as soy sauce.
• 🚩 Demanding cash or WeChat transfers to personal accounts, refusing to issue formal invoices, and having blurry, unclear seals on contracts.
• 🚩 Claiming that a single therapeutic device can cure multiple chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, with no medical device registration certificate number.

真实案例

• On March 18, 2026, CCTV's "Focus Focus" exposed the serial scam of Beijing's "trap wellness centers": a chain wellness center used free therapy as bait, mixed soy sauce into intestinal cleansing fluid to fake detoxification effects, and colluded across more than 20 stores to collect money, scamming over a hundred elderly people out of tens of millions of yuan. By June, public security organs criminally detained over 30 people, and the stores and personnel involved in the case have been desensitized.
• In 2026, NetEase News exposed: a certain brand of therapeutic device used "free therapy" as a hook, disguising ordinary health care devices as "disease-curing artifacts" and claiming they could cure hypertension, diabetes, etc., inducing multiple elderly people to spend tens of thousands of yuan to buy a single device. The "expert free clinic" was actually sales representatives posing as experts, fully desensitized.
• In 2026, Quanzhou market supervision departments joined hands with health departments to conduct a surprise inspection of an "electrotherapy experience center," discovering suspected exaggerated promotion of therapeutic device healing efficacy. Many elderly people were addicted to it, queuing up daily for free experiences. The department ordered rectifications on the spot and opened a case for investigation; stores and personnel have been desensitized.
• In May 2024, CCTV News disclosed a case investigated by the Huangpu District Market Supervision Administration in Shanghai involving health drinks defrauding the elderly: the parties packaged ordinary beverages as "miracle drugs" that could cure all diseases through online and offline sharing sessions, inducing elderly people to purchase them. The amount involved exceeded 70,000 yuan, and a fine of 200,000 RMB was imposed. (Source: [https://www.peopleapp.com/column/30045047666-500005435419](https://www.peopleapp.com/column/30045047666-500005435419))
• In June 2022, the Chongqing Public Security Bureau smashed a mega-fraud syndicate targeting the elderly involving weight-loss health products: capturing 5 dens, arresting 339 criminal suspects, with the amount involved reaching over 290 million yuan. (Source: [https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/165554262814352.html](https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/165554262814352.html))

Official Stance

• On March 18, 2026, China Media Group's "Focus Focus" special program exposed the "health wellness center" intestinal cleansing fluid mixed with soy sauce scam, naming more than 20 stores in Beijing involved in criminal cases.
• On June 12, 2026, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, in conjunction with market supervision departments, raided more than 20 "trap wellness centers," criminally detaining over 30 people, with the amount involved exceeding 10 million yuan.
• On December 8, 2025, Guangming Online published a warning report reminding the public that "free egg" marketing has become suspected of illegal activity, calling on children to pay attention to the consumption trends of the elderly.
• On March 23, 2026, CNR published a news investigation detailing the "intestinal cleansing fluid mixed with soy sauce" trap and calling for a thorough nationwide investigation.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Before entering the store, request the presentation of the "Medical Device Business License" and "Business License." If licenses are incomplete, leave immediately and call 12315 to report.
• ✅ Whenever encountering a "free experience," family accompaniment is required. When high consumption is involved, children must be present to verify qualifications and prices, and record audio for preservation.
• ✅ Be vigilant against all free temptations such as free eggs, oil, and massages, recognizing that behind "free" there must be a high-priced closed-loop.
• ✅ Refuse cash or WeChat transfers to personal accounts, insist on requesting formal invoices, and check the full name of the payee before transferring money.
• ✅ If abnormal colors in the discharged matter of "detox intestinal cleansing" or suspicious tricks in efficacy demonstrations are found, take video and photos as evidence throughout the process and report to the police immediately.