Police and Chinatown leaders are trying to spread the word about a group of scam artists who have swindled several elderly women out of their money and jewelry in recent weeks.
The female swindlers, who are either tied to or copying similar scams that have hit both coasts of the U.S. mainland, appear to be targeting ethnic Chinese women with limited English skills and who are deeply religious, superstitious or both, Honolulu police said.
Local police confirmed that at least two Honolulu women have been ripped off, triggering the opening of second-degree theft cases, while a third woman was nearly a victim. Indications are that others have been victimized but have been reluctant to inform police for various reasons.
"In all three cases, elderly Chinese women were approached by two or three Cantonese-speaking females who appear to be in their 40s or 50s," HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said. "The elderly women were told that they were cursed or possessed by evil spirits that could be dispelled if they turned over their jewelry and cash to be blessed by the suspects."
After retrieving valuables from home and wrapping them as instructed, the women then hand them over to the swindlers, who then chanted or prayed over them, Yu said. They would then return the bundle and instruct the victims not to unwrap the items for several days, she said.
The victims would later open the bags or packages to find their valuables had been replaced by paper, water bottles and other worthless items, Yu said.
Collin Wong counts his 87-year-old mother, Sio Iong Wong, among the lucky ones. Hers was the case that was stopped before she handed her valuables over.
A devout Buddhist, Wong prays daily at an altar with a statue of the religious figure Kuan Yin in the courtyard of the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, her son said. On the morning of Nov. 6, his mother had finished her daily prayers and was walking down River Street toward Hotel Street and the heart of Chinatown when she was approached by a female stranger in her 40s heading in the opposite direction.
The woman told her that she needed help locating a doctor for her daughter, Collin Wong said.
During their conversation, a second stranger approached and urged them to visit a Chinese doctor near Fort Street Mall, Collin Wong said.
As they walked there, the three women were met by a third woman who identified herself as the granddaughter of the doctor mentioned by the second stranger, Collin Wong said.
While sitting at an outdoor cafe at Fort Street Mall, the third woman told Wong’s mother that her son had been cursed but that the situation could be remedied if she brought back valuables and cash and had them blessed by the stranger’s grandfather, Collin Wong said.
The issue of her son being cursed came slowly after a bit of conversation at the downtown cafe, he said.
"They asked my mother how much money she had at home, and gold and jewelry," he said.
Told to go home to her apartment at nearby Kukui Gardens to collect her valuables, Mrs. Wong was halfway home when she ran into a relative, who took her to eat dim sum and, after hearing her story, told her that it appeared she was being set up for a scam, the son said.
Collin Wong, 43, reported the incident at the Chinatown police substation with the help of Chu Lan Shubert-Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business & Community Association.
Wong said police told them there had been two other cases, one in which a woman lost $3,000 in cash, and a second in which a woman reportedly was swindled out of $10,000.
Wong said he’s now heard of five cases in all, including one involving a woman in her 90s who lost more than $100,000 in jewelry to the swindlers.
"Some people’s whole life savings are gone," he said.
Similar scams have been reported during the p;ast year in other U.S. cities that have large numbers of immigrant Chinese, including Boston, New York, Las Vegas, Seattle and San Francisco, according to an Associated Press article in September.
Last May, three women were arrested in San Francisco as they attempted to board a plane to Hong Kong. They face multiple counts of grand theft and extortion.
There appear to be several teams of swindlers making their way across the United States. It is unclear whether they are working together.
Shubert-Kwock said she believes they are part of a coordinated crime ring, and that while there have been no new incidents reported in about a week, they are just "laying low until the heat dies down."
Local ethnic Chinese news organizations including the locally produced Hawaii Chinese News have been enlisted to spread the word online, in print and in radio programs.
Volunteers with the Chinatown Business & Community Association are expected to fan out across Chinatown on Monday to hand out fliers and posters in both Chinese and English to businesses, residents and customers warning them to be on the lookout and to turn to over any information to police.
Anyone with information should call HPD at 723-8761. A Cantonese-speaking officer can be made available if requested, HPD said.
