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Police warn York Region of ‘evil spirit blessing’ scam for cash and valuables

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The latest fraud to hit York Region involves casting away ‘evil spirits’ and robbing victims of thousands of dollars in cash and valuables.

Police are warning residents against the scam in hopes of preventing any more victims falling prey.

At least two citizens in Markham, Ontario, have fallen victim to the evil spirit blessing scam, according to the York Regional Police press release.

The scam’s suspects speak Cantonese and appear to be approaching elderly Chinese women on the street.

They offer to remove the evil spirits surrounding the victims through a simple blessing ritual and warn them that a family member will die within three days if the spirits are not removed.

To complete the blessing, the victim is told to go home and return with a bag filled with all their cash and valuables.

Once they return, the suspects ask the victims to wash their hands with blessed water. In the meantime, they switch the victim’s bag of valuables with a bag containing items of little or no value.

In one of the reported cases, a victim lost over $8,000 in cash and jewelry.

Over the summer, similar incidents were reported in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa, where the ‘evil spirit’ scam was used to defraud four victims of $10,000 to $20,000 in cash and valuables each, according to the Toronto Star.

York Regional Police are warning residents to be cautious and simply walk away “if approached on the street by anyone looking to offer you a service in exchange for all your valuables.”