spiritual blessing scam

This is a scam usua lly directed at elderly Chinese women who believe that spirits can affect their lives and that various rituals can be performed to protect them and their families. The scammer persuades the victim that their family is at risk from spirits and must have their wealth blessed immediately to protect them from some danger or illness.  The victim promptly packages up their valuables — money from under the bed, jewellery, etc., and sends it to the scammer who replaces the items in the package with valueless articles and sends the package back with the warning that it should not be opened for some extended time to allow the blessing to take effect.

The police have reported that this scam is on the increase this year and have exhorted people not to hand over their valuables to strangers.