In recent years, health product scams have been rampant in Chinese society. From free eggs to health seminars, and even live streaming promotions, various tactics directly target the elderly’s desires for health and emotional vulnerabilities. The scams targeting the elderly are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a large and mature industry chain, with serious lack of regulation.
Online media site Huxiu published a confession of a health product store owner on August 20th. The interviewee, Gao Yao (pseudonym), in his early thirties, once operated a health product store for a year and a half.
He recalled, “When our store first opened, we launched an activity where you could get 50 eggs for 1 cent, and the elderly could pick them up over five days. During these five days, they got familiar with us and gradually let their guard down.”
Then the store would offer “100 eggs for 5 yuan,” and the elderly who continued to participate were selected as potential customers. The eggs were just a cheap lure, the real purpose was to gradually lead the elderly into the atmosphere of “sales meetings”.
At the sales meetings, the speakers played the role of the “key figure”. They were eloquent, and the store owner even cooperated by “acting out arguments”, pretending to “negotiate benefits” for the elderly. When emotions were heightened, a package of sheep milk powder priced at 3999 yuan was presented, while the actual cost was less than 400 yuan.
Gao Yao bluntly stated that these products – whether sheep milk powder, royal jelly, or astragalus essence – “often cost only one-tenth or even less of the selling price.” The elderly were not buying products, but rather “a sense of being cared for and a desire for health.”
Due to their children not being around, many elderly people are lonely and have no support. Health product salespeople are well aware of this and often use terms like “godmother” or “auntie” to get closer, and they even bring gifts during holidays. The elderly gradually see them as family, and end up handing over their savings and even their “funeral fund”.
Gao Yao admitted, “Seeing the elderly taking out wads of cash, I have felt guilty at times. But faced with huge profits, I would comfort myself by saying this is exchanging service for income.”
He revealed that some top sales speakers could earn annual incomes in the millions, while ordinary elderly people exhaust all their savings due to feeling “cared for”. Although some companies may be fined 8,000 yuan occasionally, for them, “an 8,000 yuan fine compared to profits of over a million in a year is just a drop in the bucket.”
Eventually, Gao Yao chose to quit due to the moral pressure of watching the elderly take out their “funeral fund” and the sense of “karmic retribution” from the loss of family members.
How many elderly people are there in China? According to official data, by the end of 2024, the population of elderly people aged 60 and above in China had exceeded 300 million, accounting for 22% of the total population, while those over 65 accounted for 15.6%.
A study titled “Understanding China’s Health Scam Criminals: A Perspective on Emotional Labor” published by Cambridge University in July 2023 pointed out that scammers often control the elderly through three forms of emotional labor: alleviating anxiety, performing filial piety, and promoting social interaction. These strategies are not random, but are systematically used in the marketing of health products in the industry.
With fierce market competition, the sales methods of the “health product scam” continue to evolve.
Short-distance travel is a common tactic, where stores organize trips for the elderly to deepen relationships, and upon finishing the trip, they push for membership cards or high-priced products. There is also the “meal promotion” model, inviting “experts” to eat and lecture at restaurants, making it easier for the elderly to let their guard down. Some businesses even collaborate with religious venues, linking products with “blessings” and “prayers”, reinforcing psychological suggestions.
In recent years, social media has become a new battleground. Targeting the “new elderly” in their sixties and seventies, merchants attract attention through WeChat groups and live streaming platforms, with small red envelopes serving as bait for joining, followed by content repeatedly instilling “health anxiety” and “health myths”.
Behind the industry of the “health product scam” is a huge profit chain: upstream manufacturers produce low-cost products, middlemen control the scene and receive high fees, while downstream store owners directly face the elderly population. According to Gao Yao’s observations, a top sales speaker can earn annual incomes in the millions. In contrast, ordinary elderly people exhaust their savings due to feeling the need to be “cared for”.
In April, Chinese media reported a health liquor scam case in Yichang, Hubei Province, where more than 30,000 elderly people were scammed out of over 1 billion yuan, exposing the fraud behind the so-called “cure-all” health products.
During the on-site sales, the so-called “marketing director” claimed that the liquor could cure diabetes, hypertension, rheumatism, and even had a “prop” child testify.
Mr. Chen and his wife from Yichang were victims. Mr. Chen bought a 5,400 yuan health liquor for rheumatism, while his wife, under persuasion, purchased a 7,200 yuan health liquor and a 6,600 yuan colostrum, spending almost half a year’s retirement savings. The products turned out to be ineffective, and most of them were thrown away.
In reality, these liquors cost just over ten yuan to produce, but were sold for 280 yuan per bottle, making a profit ten times their cost.
In January 2025, a health seminar held at a hotel in Chaoyang District, Beijing, replayed the old routine. Sales representatives claimed to be the “person in charge of the China Academy of Sciences Shenyang Institute’s regenerative reversal project,” showcasing edited media videos as “endorsements”. The product was packaged as a “national scientific research achievement”, with a price of 5,000 yuan per treatment, while the actual cost was only 11.5 yuan.
A report in July by Chinese media exposed the chaos in “nutritional guidance”. Ms. Chen from Beijing got to know a self-proclaimed nutritionist through Xiaohongshu, who suggested she take 20 vitamin B tablets daily, far exceeding the recommended 1 tablet stated on the product packaging.
Ms. Chen said, “He advised my daughter not to take medicine when she had a cold or fever, but to rely on nutritional support.”
The “nutritionist” had no qualifications, but gained trust through examples of “health miracles” in their circle of friends. This false professionalism packaged as “scientific” and “personalized” advice is actually another selling technique.
However, victims often find it challenging to get effective resolution after reporting to the authorities. Douyin blogger “Lawyer Zhang Yu” explained in a video: although health products are overpriced, most have genuine production permits, and their business licenses even list the pre-sale content of health foods, making it a legally operated business.
He emphasized that to reclaim their retirement funds, it is difficult to prove illegality solely based on high prices; evidence needs to focus on whether there are claims of “therapeutic effects” or false advertising.
“Lawyer Zhang Yu” suggested that for victims to effectively and cost-efficiently protect their rights, they should prepare three things: first, record the merchant’s claims of product therapeutic effects in the event/promotion through audio-visual videos, photos, or promotional materials. When things seem off, don’t expose it immediately, continue to gather evidence discreetly during the event (as long as it is done legally and safely).
Second, keep the product that corresponds to the aforementioned promotional content (model, batch, packaging, etc.); third, save receipts, invoices, transfer records, and other materials that can prove the transaction facts and amounts.
Following this, victims can call 12345 for the market hotline, 12315 for the consumer rights hotline, or 12366 for the tax hotline to lodge complaints. If the evidence is strong, the merchant may voluntarily refund to avoid further trouble.
Summing up these cases, the health product scams, from “free eggs” to “scientific endorsements”, from “sales tour travel” to “live streaming promotions”, always revolve around the elderly’s desires for health and emotional needs. The variations of the “elderly scams” in the industry continue to innovate.
Experts believe that many elderly people lack emotional support and someone to talk to. Scammers offer warmth, small favors, and quickly break through psychological barriers, depleting the elderly’s retirement funds.
They suggest that the real solution lies not only in market regulation but in the joint efforts of families and society. Children need to spend time with their parents, increase their awareness of scams, and communities and non-profit organizations should provide more care activities to prevent the elderly from becoming “easy targets” in the eyes of scammers.