Pour the turbid sewage into the water purifier, and it will turn into clear water in a few seconds. It also claims to be equipped with aerospace technology and claims to be able to cure the three highs. Many elderly people were impressed by this health-preserving water purifier. Aunt Sun from Wenzhou, Zhejiang is one of them. However, behind this seemingly magical product is actually a scam specifically targeting the elderly.
How long does it take for sewage to turn into clean water? Water purifier scam targets the elderly
According to Aunt Sun's recollection, one time when she was exercising in the park, a salesperson approached her and enthusiastically invited her to a nearby hotel to participate in a sales event for a water purifier. He also said that she could receive small gifts upon arrival. After some persuasion, Aunt Sun was moved.
Party Aunt Sun: He introduced the water purifier and said it was very good. He asked whether you should go or not. The venue was basically full, the scene was very lively, and the event was well done.
At the venue, a man who called himself a "lecturer" boasted about a water purifier that not only had outstanding water purification effects, but also claimed that it could cure "three highs" and other diseases.
Party Aunt Sun: This is what he said, you must buy it. This water is good and is very good for your body. Why do people nowadays have high standards? It’s because the current environment is not good and the water we eat is not good. After using our machine, the water quality is good, the body is in good health, and the symptoms of high blood pressure are no longer high.
In order to prove this statement, the lecturer and assistant also demonstrated a magical water purification experiment on the spot: the turbid sewage immediately became clear and translucent after being filtered by the machine.
Knowing that you can use exclusive "coupons" when purchasing on-site, Aunt Sun finally spent nearly 4,000 yuan to buy this water purifier. However, the machine broke down not long after it was purchased, and the salesperson who had promised "service to the end" could not be contacted at all.
There are many elderly people who have the same experience as Aunt Sun. Ms. Hu once accompanied her mother to participate in a sales event for this water purifier. The "tough" way the on-site staff urged the elderly to place orders still makes them a little scared.
Family members of the parties involved Ms. Hu: There is a man on the left and a man on the right. They quickly get the invoice for you to sign. They signed your name and left, pulling and pulling you. My mother said to think about it first, but he said no, sign it quickly, and my aunt signed it quickly or something. We were quite scared at the time. It looked so menacing that we couldn't help but buy it.
Just when this gang was organizing another promotion event, a citizen who noticed something unusual reported the case to the police, and the police rushed to the Huipin Hotel to conduct an on-site investigation.
Jin Chengjie, a police officer from the Yongjia County Public Security Bureau, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province: After arriving at the scene, we found a large number of experimental equipment. Elderly people present reported that the experimental content and promotional rhetoric claimed to be able to cure diseases, cancer, and the three high-risk diseases of the elderly. We feel this may have crossed a legal line.
It does not have any curative effect. The water purification demonstration is all a deception.
What is the true face of this water purifier, which claims to be able to treat many diseases and purify sewage? The police dismantled the experimental device of this group and confirmed that it was just an ordinary water purifier and did not have any curative effect. Those magical water purification demonstrations were all deceptions designed in advance.
Jin Chengjie: They modified the machine in advance, installed a pressure barrel inside, filled it with mineral water, purified water and other liquids in advance, and pumped it directly from the pressure barrel, which was a bottle of clean filtered water for the public to see. They also create psychological panic by telling the elderly that the local natural drinking water is seriously polluted and heavy metals exceed the standard, thereby creating psychological panic for the elderly, thereby eliciting how effective their water purifiers are.
Invite through multiple channels to target the elderly in massive personal information
The investigators found that the mobile phone numbers of a large number of elderly people were registered in the event sign-in book. In addition to hiring people to pick people up on the street and inviting them over the phone, the gang also illegally obtained more than 2 million pieces of personal information from citizens, from which they screened out elderly people and set up precise traps.
Jin Chengjie: We found that this personal information is very specific and accurate, and the age range is distributed among the elderly between 60 and 80 years old. The organizational structure of this gang is that the gang boss colludes with internal personnel of electrical appliance manufacturers and mobile phone sales halls to form a support for providing citizens' personal information and sources of goods; at the next level is the joint lecturer of each group leader, who leads the group members to carry out false sales promotions in various places; at the next level, each group is divided into installers, on-site atmosphere development groups, experimenters and full-time drivers to form such a structure.
After investigation, this criminal gang illegally obtained more than 2 million pieces of citizens' personal information including mobile phone numbers, residential areas, etc., and screened middle-aged and elderly people based on this, and used gifts as bait to make phone invitations to attend meetings. They use "pseudo-technology" to falsely package their products, and by fictitious professional identities and staged false experiments on-site, they promote ordinary water purifiers as high-tech health products, which is extremely deceptive and misleading.
Jin Xiangxiang, prosecutor of the Sixth Procuratorial Department of the Wenzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate: First, they used the name of a formal enterprise to market water purifiers, then fabricated the identity of the lecturer at the event, conducted false experiments, and falsely claimed that the product had therapeutic effects. Finally, by interfering with the selling price and issuing false coupons, they gradually induced the elderly to purchase the product. This gang commits crimes in Jinhua, Hangzhou, Wenzhou and other places. The scope of its victims is very wide, and its social harm is far greater than ordinary consumer disputes.
Falsely marked prices, limited sales, creating the illusion of panic buying
According to investigators, from October 2023 to March 2025, this criminal gang continued to commit crimes in many places in Zhejiang in the form of sales, creating the illusion of "rush buying" by falsely marking selling prices, issuing false coupons, and selling quotas, inducing the elderly to purchase ordinary water purifiers with a purchase price of less than 1,000 yuan at prices ranging from 3,980 yuan to 4,680 yuan. The sales amount reached more than 9 million yuan, and the illegal profits were more than 6 million yuan.
Ye Gaojie, director of the Fifth Prosecution Department of the People's Procuratorate of Yongjia County, Wenzhou City: The groups involved are all elderly people, and the criminal suspects spread the personal information of these elderly people through trafficking, which affects their information security.
In March 2026, the procuratorate prosecuted Li and others for false advertising and infringement of citizens' personal information.
Jin Xiangxiang: During the review process, we found that this case has violated the consumer rights of unspecified consumers. According to the relevant provisions of our Consumer Rights Protection Law, we relied on the collaboration mechanism between the procuratorial agency and the Consumer Protection Committee to transfer clues about this case to the Provincial Consumer Protection Committee.
On June 9, 2026, the Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Protection Commission filed a consumer civil public interest lawsuit with the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court, and the Wenzhou Municipal People’s Procuratorate supported the prosecution in accordance with the law.
Li Jia, Director of the Complaints and Legal Affairs Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Commission: The case shows an obvious cross-regional flow of cases and the characteristics of infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of many unspecified consumers. This sales and pseudo-scientific model not only defrauds the elderly of their pension money, but also seriously disrupts the market order.
The three jointly paid 400,000 yuan in public interest litigation damages.
On August 28, after mediation hosted by the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court, the Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Protection Commission reached a mediation agreement with the three defendants involved in the case, Li, Wang, and Yang. The three will jointly pay 400,000 yuan in public interest litigation damages and apologize to the public in media at the provincial level and above.
Sun Xiaolin, Vice President of the First Civil Division of the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court: We will pay this fee to the Provincial Consumer Protection Committee through a special fund to be used for some public welfare activities of their public welfare rights protection. At the same time, we also learned that the criminal part also issued a verdict simultaneously.
In October 2026, the Yongjia County People's Court sentenced three defendants to be guilty of false advertising and infringement of citizens' personal information. They were punished for several crimes and were sentenced to three years and two months to five years in prison together with fines. The judgment is currently in effect.
