Trusting an insurance agent led not only to purchasing insurance and wealth management products that boosted their sales performance, but also to handing over a mobile phone for them to handle bill payments on behalf of the client. Unfortunately, this fell into a trap: in 5, more than 200 million yuan was stolen from the account—this is one of the recent elderly-targeted fraud cases cracked by Xuhui authorities. After being prosecuted by the People's Procuratorate of Xuhui District, Shanghai, the Xuhui District People's Court sentenced the insurance agent, Yang, to 11 years and 9 months in prison for fraud, deprived him of political rights for 4 years, and imposed a fine of 30 ten-thousand yuan.
In 2020, Auntie Ge, a senior citizen over 60, met insurance agent Yang. Yang was extremely warm and friendly, often visiting Auntie Ge to chat, cook meals together, and accompany her to medical appointments. This quickly built a close bond between them. Later, Yang pitched their own insurance products to Auntie Ge. Moved by Yang's situation—having raised a child alone after divorce while juggling work and life—Auntie Ge decided to support Yang by purchasing an insurance product at the branch office alongside them.
Later, Yang frequently promoted insurance and wealth management products to Aunt Ge, claiming that no visit to the branch was necessary—everything could be done on a smartphone. This put Aunt Ge in a difficult position: she and her husband were not tech-savvy, their children lived abroad, and there was no one at home to assist them. Seeing this, Yang offered to operate the phone for her: transfer funds into his account first, then pay the premiums and investment fees on her behalf. Trusting Yang, Aunt Ge handed over her phone and even let him register her mobile banking account.
Screenshots of some transfer records where Yang manipulated Auntie Ge's phone to make transfers
In 2025, month 12, Auntie Ge's nephew discovered that, besides insurance premium deductions, large transfers had been made to Yang's account multiple times starting from year 2021, with no corresponding records of insurance or wealth management product purchases. Preliminary calculations indicate the total amount exceeded 200 million yuan. Auntie Ge promptly contacted the insurance company and confirmed that she indeed had no purchase records for such amounts and that Yang had already resigned in month 7, year 2025. Yet, after his resignation, Yang continued to visit her home under the pretext of renewing her insurance policy, operating her phone to execute transfers. Realizing she had been defrauded, Auntie Ge immediately reported the case to the Xuhui District Public Security Bureau.
After being brought to justice, Yang confessed that she conceived the idea of defrauding Auntie Ge due to a lack of funds. To avoid arousing suspicion, Yang would sometimes lie to Auntie Ge about earning profits from investments and proactively pay for daily expenses or give small gifts to gain her trust. Feeling guilty, Yang immediately deleted all transfer records and chat logs after each transaction to minimize the risk of detection. Over the years, Yang defrauded Auntie Ge of over 200 million yuan, which she spent on luxury cars, gold jewelry, and other personal daily expenses.
Prosecutor's Reminder
Prosecutors remind everyone: do not lend your phone to others for use. Elderly individuals who need assistance should seek help from trusted friends or family, have them operate the device in their presence, or opt for offline and public channels to handle matters. When requesting help, remain vigilant, closely observe the other person's actions, and verify all operations being performed.
Source: Xinmin Evening News, Xuhui Procuratorate
Edited by: Xia Liang
