Canada: Two Vancouver Seniors Lose Nearly C$100,000 in Blessing Scams a Week Apart, Police Probe Possible Link
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada — Vancouver police said on October 28 that two blessing scams targeting elderly women occurred a week apart, with total losses approaching C$100,000, and investigators are examining whether the cases are linked.
In the first incident, at about 1 p.m. on October 16, two Asian women approached an 81-year-old woman waiting at a bus stop on Victoria Drive near East 37th Avenue and learned about her sons in conversation.
A man then joined them and convinced the victim that her sons could be healed if her valuables were blessed. She went home, collected about C$7,000 in cash, a gold necklace and a ring, and handed them to the man. The bag she received back contained instant noodles and water. Her daughter later called police.
A week later, at about 10:30 a.m. on October 23, a 79-year-old woman was approached by two women at a bus stop at Fraser Street and East 47th Avenue. One woman, wearing a mask and black clothing, told her that her youngest son would die if she did not bring her gold and money to be blessed to get rid of bad spirits.
The woman in black rode the bus home with the victim to retrieve the valuables and returned with her to the bus stop area. The victim handed about C$40,000 in cash and about C$50,000 in gold and jewelry to two men. Back home, she opened her backpack and found the money and valuables had been replaced with noodles and water bottles, a loss of about C$90,000 in that case alone.
Police said the two cases followed a highly similar pattern: approaching elderly women at bus stops, learning about their families through conversation, and using a blessing ritual as the pretext to take cash and valuables. Anyone with information, or CCTV or dashcam footage from the areas, is asked to call the Vancouver Police Department non-emergency line at 604-717-3321.
In July, Vancouver police warned that blessing scams targeting elderly Chinese victims were on the rise, with case numbers roughly double the same period a year earlier and 13 reports received as of July 24. Police did not specify the backgrounds of the victims in the two October incidents.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加拿大温哥华市街头的温哥华警察局警车（夜间）。William Sun 摄，CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / A Vancouver Police Department cruiser on a Vancouver street at night. Photo by William Sun, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
