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By Teng Jing Xuan / Dec 21, 2018 06:27 PM / Society & Culture

Retirees attempt to train their

Retirees attempt to train their "extrasensory perception" skills in a Beijing park in August 2018. Photo: VCG

It’s tough getting old. Especially when you’re the target of scammers.

Chinese police nabbed more than 1,900 people involved in health-product scams targeting the elderly this year, the Ministry of Public Security said Thursday.

And such scams are increasing, the ministry said.

In one recent case, Nanjing police found that scammers pretended to be doctors hired by a charity offering free health checks to elderly people.

The scam worked this way:

The “doctors” would tout the benefits of a substance they called “Prescription Worth a Thousand Yuan in Gold Ingot Maple” — a reference to an ancient Tang dynasty herbal remedy.

They told the elderly patients that it normally costs 2,987 yuan ($433), but could be sold at a “special price” of 987 yuan.

But police eventually found that the product being hyped had no medicinal properties and was made using materials worth only 60 yuan.

Read more: Beauty Salon Scam Convinced Customers to Pay 1 Billion Yuan for Fake Cancer Drugs

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