Authorities are asking for the public’s help identifying two suspects in a so-called “blessing scam” that targeted a 78-year-old woman in East Vancouver. That victim is among 13 elderly Chinese people who have lost more than $300,000 in cash combined—along with gold and jewelry—in similar crimes reported across the city this year alone, according to the Vancouver Police Department. The incidents tend to follow a pattern. “Criminals in these cases approach victims, engage them in conversation, and use deep-seated cultural fear and manipulation to make them believe a terrible misfortune or curse will befall them if they don’t have their valuables spiritually blessed,” the department said in a news release Friday. Victims will be convinced to go home, gather their cash and prized possessions, then return to have them blessed. Criminals then use “use deception and sleight of hand to switch out the valuables for worthless items such as bags of cornstarch,” police said. One such incident was reported around 1:45 p.m. on June 24, on 20th Avenue near Nanaimo Street. The victim lost $23,282 in cash and three pieces of jewelry. Police shared images of the two suspects in that alleged scam Friday, and asked anyone who recognizes them to come forward. One is described as an Asian woman, approximately 50 years old, 5’3” tall, with black hair. She was wearing a round sun hat, white shirt, grey jacket and grey pants—as well as a surgical mask and a back-support brace. The other is described as an Asian man, approximately 60 years old and 5’7” tall. He was wearing a grey baseball hat, dark-coloured jacket and grey pants, and was also carrying a black bag. Insp. Shiv Gill said authorities are concerned about an increase in these particular scams—by this time last year, there had only been six such crimes, resulting in the loss of approximately $200,000 in valuables. “The criminals behind these scams use fear to manipulate very vulnerable people into handing over large sums of money,” Gill said in a statement. “It’s cruel and it leaves victims and their families facing significant financial issues, not to mention the loss of cherished family heirlooms.” The Vancouver Police Department believes the perpetrators “operate internationally,” and said investigators are working with outside police agencies on the cases.
