In Depth: China’s Battle to Stop Scammers Targeting Families of the Seriously Ill

In Hebei province’s Yanjiao, where a hospital known for treating leukemia sits on the border with Beijing, local police have received reports of at least five major cases of fundraising fraud over the past year and a half — each involving tens of millions of yuan.

The cases involved convincing desperate families of critically ill patients to put money into schemes described as “matching-fund donations” or “charity financing” with the promise the victims would receive an additional return on certain amount of money they put in the funds. In reality, they were scams.