Avoid any “investment-based senior care” schemes that require upfront payments: card enrollment, prepaid care fees, buying senior housing units, travel-based care programs, and sales of senior products all fall under the same category of illegal fundraising.

5. Avoid any “investment-based senior care” schemes that require upfront payments: card enrollment, prepaid care fees, buying senior housing units, travel-based care programs, and sales of senior products all fall under the same category of illegal fundraising.

Cost: No cost at all. Simply read the following list of common tactics to seniors; it takes just a few minutes. In the future, use this list to reject any such offers outright: don’t attend informational sessions, don’t visit facilities, and don’t leave contact details. The real challenge arises when seniors have already attended several sessions and formed relationships with promoters — in those cases, convincing them to back off becomes much harder.

In plain terms: Any senior care program that demands an initial payment while promising financial returns is essentially a scam. These schemes include selling membership cards, collecting prepaid care fees, selling senior housing units, offering travel-based care packages, and promoting various senior products. Under current regulations, recovered funds are extremely rare; victims usually bear the full financial loss. Official reports document cases where fraudsters raised 136,000,000 yuan by marketing “pre-booked senior housing units,” defrauding over 2,100 people. Another case saw fraudsters collect 620,000 yuan through similar tactics, affecting more than 2,100 people. The only effective preventive step is stopping the initial payment.

Benefit: The Civil Affairs Bureau has identified five primary patterns used by fraudsters; recognizing these patterns is far more reliable than trusting individual promoters. First, fake senior care organizations: these entities lack any physical presence and merely rent temporary venues while falsely claiming partnerships with legitimate care providers. Second, “senior care services” marketed via premium cards, membership passes, or prepaid plans that promise far more services than their actual capacity can deliver. Third, “investment in senior care projects” — including fictitious senior housing developments, long-term bed leases, and so-called “time bank” mutual care systems — often advertised with promises of principal return, rental guarantees, or buyback agreements. Fourth, sales of “senior products” involving product buybacks, consignment sales, loyalty discounts, complimentary health screenings, gift giveaways, conference promotions, wellness seminars, and expert medical consultations. Fifth, “travel-based senior care” packages featuring discounted or free trips, stored-value rewards, and points-based care programs. Legal statutes explicitly state that all financial losses resulting from participation in illegal fundraising must be borne by the victims themselves. Official statistics illustrate the scale of this problem: Dai and accomplices stole 136,000,000 yuan through similar schemes, affecting over 2,100 victims; Dai received a 15-year prison term plus a 400,000 yuan fine. Cao orchestrated a fraud totaling 13,207,000,000 yuan, impacting more than 110,000 people; he was sentenced to life imprisonment with permanent political rights revocation and full asset confiscation. Some health product promoters also employ fraud tactics: Ni lured seniors through free meals, gifts, and private transportation to attend lectures where “experts” fabricated anti-cancer benefits using false testimonials and inflated pricing; seniors ended up paying dozens of times the actual cost for a compound called dihydroquercetin. Ni received a 10-year-and-3-month sentence plus a 120,000 yuan fine. (National regulations effective May 1, 2021.)

Evidence grade: A

Sources: Ministry of Civil Affairs of China (2023). Risk warnings about illegal fund-raising in the field of elderly care services. <https://www.gov.cn/lianbo/bumen/202306/content_6886556.htm> (published by the Chinese Government website); Ministry of Civil Affairs of China, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (2021). Risk warnings about illegal fund-raising in the field of elderly care services. <https://www.mca.gov.cn/n152/n164/c36171/content.html>; State Council of China (2021). Regulations on Preventing and Dealing with Illegal Fund-raising (State Council of China Order No. 737, Articles 2, 25, and 30). <https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-02/10/content_5586632.htm>; Supreme People's Procuratorate of China (2022). Typical cases of procuratorial organs cracking down on pension fraud crimes. <https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbt/202206/t20220617_560010.shtml>; Supreme People's Court of China (2025). Punishing typical cases of fraud related to people's livelihood in accordance with the law (Case 5 Ni Mourong Fraud Case). <https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/482861.html>

Notes: Determining whether a program is legitimate should never rely on superficial impressions like “this organization looks reputable”; instead, focus on two clear indicators: does it demand an upfront payment, and does it promise financial returns? Legitimate senior care providers offer services rather than investment opportunities; any mention of returns, profits, or principal guarantees immediately disqualifies them. While it is difficult to prevent seniors from attending informational sessions, travel excursions, or medical screenings, the critical moment for intervention is when a payment is requested; this aligns perfectly with the dual-confirmation rule outlined in section 3. Once payment has already occurred, immediately contact police at 110 or the anti-fraud hotline 96110 to request a payment freeze, and simultaneously report the incident to local authorities responsible for handling illegal fundraising cases. Separate from these schemes, “housing reverse mortgage insurance” represents a distinct financial mechanism; refer to section 6 for further details.