The beijing daily newspaper had recently exposed the practice of many community groups buying “maxes” in the name of “one dollar for eggs”, attracting older persons into the group and selling them health products. After the publication, the companies involved were interviewed and a number of readers continued to report that some of the acupuncture houses were on the same path, using “free experience” to attract older people in their homes to the store and eventually to sell so-called “magic” health products. Journalists investigated this。
Visit: in the morning, the acupuncture house was surrounded by elderly people
"my mom used to wake up and go to the morning market to buy food, and now it's good. According to ms. Silly sing of the seady district, mother's habits have changed since the community opened an acupuncture house called “pro bono” — no longer wandering around the morning market, but making acupuncture every day。
Ms. Sun said that the mother had been acupunctured for more than a month, boasting “comfortfully”, and had indeed confiscated money. However, one day, when she packed the house, she found a pile of bee glue in the cupboard, and only once she asked, the old lady spent thousands of dollars quietly. "what kind of acupuncture is this?" what's with the bee glue?" ms. Sun wondered。
Following the lead provided by ms. Sun, journalists came to the front shop of the brand in the east side。
On 5 may, at 14:30, more than 20 elderly people lined up in front of the acupuncture hall on east flower street, east side. "for 40 minutes, with powder and flour!" by an aunt. Journalists who tried to consult at the store were stopped by front-office agents: “the free acupuncture has stopped and the prize is gone.” but when journalists left, they ran into two elderly people in the store for free acupuncture. Within the following month, journalists came to the shop twice and saw the elderly queuing in front of the door。
There are many such “free” acupuncture shops。
On 19 may, at 7. 30 a. M., the elderly entered and left the “aishang xx” acupuncture house near their home in the tondai district. "at times, early in the morning, it's out of reach." older people told journalists that free acupuncture began at 6. 30 a. M. Every day, 40 minutes each, 5 a. M. And 2 p. M. "they don't charge, they've got a few staff to serve us, they've got a full-time presence, they've got a monthly material reward."
However, when journalists came into the store at 10. 30 to consult acupuncture, the doorman was particularly vigilant. "we're busy. It's not convenient. Come back." despite the fact that there are no older persons in the shop, the staff are still busy “inviting” journalists to leave the house。
At 8. 30 p. M. On 28 may, a dozen elderly people were waiting at the entrance outside the “ai xx” acupuncture house near han zhengjia, fontai district. "we have acupuncture every day, free of charge, and this last one is not over." an old man said。
In a different space, journalists entered the acupuncture hall and only posted an “acupuncture service schedule” on the left side of the door, starting at 6. 10 p. M. And continuing until 15. 10 p. M. In acupuncture's room, there are 40 and 50 acupuncture stools, and in a few moments, the old people who enter the store sit full of them. The front-office staff was busy signing cards for the elderly, and two of them were signed to the carcass, with an estimated 100 copies。
The front desk of the acupuncture house was marked with multiple acupuncture price lists, but when journalists suggested that they wanted to experience it, the staff said: “these projects were suspended and only e-acupuncture-free for the elderly is now available”. When journalists asked to sign up, they were still denied: “we only receive elderly people”
Approach: free benefits and full-time attendance
The acupuncture house, which is free for the elderly. The journalists' survey found that such acupuncture houses are similar to previously exposed community groups that buy “shows”: they are also used as free baits to attract older people to the store, but in order to receive free benefits, they have to attend classes throughout the shop。
The citizen aunt lee told the journalist about her first experience at the acupuncture house on the “opity xx”. “the staff member asked me how old i was, how old i retired, where i lived, and gave me a vip card.” on the monthly card presented by aunt lee, there was a hole in the number “21.” “that was the 21st, and they gave a hole in it, saying that they could play a card every time they came, and then get a small gift, and if they could be 31 days in a row, they would get a special reward.”
Aunt lee remembers that after completing her monthly card, she was taken into a narrow room. The room is equipped as a classroom with 10 rows of acupuncture stools, with a television in front. “the staff said to be free to do acupuncture, they had to watch tv classes in the room, and everyone would watch us.” forty minutes of classes, the “teacher” on tv said a lot, and aunt lee remembered one sentence: “the best nutrients in the world are beehives, the ingredients in which work on the brain and the heart, and those who eat for long periods react quickly.”
Acupuncture at the “dune xx” acupuncture house is free of charge a vip card for the elderly。
After class, aunt lee also received a pack of free bee glue sour and e-soft capsules, "it's okay not to buy, but to come to class and get something."
The acceleratorium "assan xx" has been used by older people who say that they also attend classes while doing acupuncture. However, unlike the accelerator's accelerator, a three-day test system is in place - the new elderly must complete a three-day continuous course in order to obtain a monthly card. The membership system is subdivided: initially based on a monthly card, two months of continuous attendance can be upgraded to a green card, and four months later the yellow card will be replaced. “the longer the course is heard, the higher the membership level, the more favourable the future will be. "the experienced old man says。
During the interviews, older people who had been attending classes for long periods of time also told journalists that they would be drawn into the twitter community for long periods of time, and that classes would be transferred from the bottom to the line。
"i have several groups." aunt ma has been in the accelerator house for three years. She showed the reporters a number of micromessages on her mobile phone: some of them sent special course announcements and occasionally shared photos of a leader, an association, visiting the agrass base; some of them gave live online classes, regularly broadcast live links, and sold health products.” this was subject to staff review. " aunt ma said that membership represented an identity recognition。
Ridiculous: $5,000 for the magic acupuncture stool
Of course, free lessons are foreplay. The journalists summarized the experiences of many older persons and found that, as the course progressed, the door shop started marketing daily items such as a $100 acreage oil and honey, and that after three months of waiting for older persons to go to classes under the line, health care items such as bee glue, anti-fast capsules and human saps were sold at a price of $1,000 per unit in thematic courses。
"to be free to be an acupuncture every day, so passionate, i'm embarrassed not to buy anything." the white aunt, who lives in east flower city, speaks of many old people. In the beginning, aunt white was able to stay out of consumption, but slowly bought milk powdered with calcium and calcium from bees and bees. It's not cheap to have a 76. 8-dollar bee glue pearl soap, and it costs $3,400 a month in pieces。
More old people can't stop buying. According to the children, after the elderly at home came into contact with the free acupuncture house, various kinds of health supplies began to rush into the home: wild honey, corn paste, camel milk powder, winter worm summer herbs. On one occasion, the elderly were determined to buy over 5,000 different acupuncture stools, “it is said that the stool is a special god, which can bring down blood sugar, hypotensive pressure, correct spleen, renal aberration, promote digestion, and allow the elderly children to sit.”
However, press enquiries have revealed that the so-called “magic” acupuncture stool, which is not registered on the website of the national drug supervisory authority, is a common product. "this acupuncture bench, it's only $2,300 on the treasure hunt." dr. Wang, who has been working on acupuncture for almost 20 years, told reporters that acupuncture requires the location, temperature control, time control and not just sitting on it. There is no single drug, instrument or therapy that can cure every disease, and acupuncture is no exception。
Over the past three years, aunt ma, following the advice of the acupuncture accelerator, has purchased a number of items, such as cheap toothpaste, black sesame-balls, and expensive, such as small molecular protein powder, which in turn cost around $50,000. "all i buy in the group are regular products with little blue hats, or special, cheap, not available outside."
However, the “blue hat” product in aunt ma's mouth is neither special nor cheap. In the case of the “thirty-seven-person capsules”, which she had mentioned as specially tailored for older persons in the group, the sale price was $199. On the electrician platform, journalists easily find equivalents ranging from overpacking, approval of symbols to full alignment of specifications, at a sales price of only $88, less than half the price within the group。
Behind the scene: repeat harvests and old people in similar courses
In the course of the survey, journalists also found that the live courses in the “free acupuncture” group were strikingly similar to those in the previously exposed community groups that had purchased live classes in the “magazine” group, from lecturers, content to delivery products。
For example, a number of older people, in different micro-clinics, have seen teachers who claim to be “post-care workers”, in their capacity as special guests, to sell so-called limited health care items such as “breeds” for the “breeds” for the “breed cap” for the “fluencing ointment”. The old man who saw it live in 2024 said, “how many days did he have to say that the course was only 60 days? Even online friends are the same people?"
It's not just live, it's even reconnecting with older people. Journalists have found that many older people are active in the “free acupuncture parlours” in the same community and community groups buy “shows” shopping malls. Old people say that they are often drawn from this group, that today they sell chalk powder, that tomorrow they push the infrared, and that they “can't remember how to get in”。
They are drawn into the back of several groups, reflecting the repeated sale of information about the elderly. It has been revealed by insiders that the information of an elderly person who collects eggs from an underground store and watches live broadcasts can be leaked to more health promoters. “acupuncture is free, eggs are distributed, and the key is to get the elderly around the house again and again.” the above-mentioned persons have stated that once confidence has been built, the door shop can move from cheap gifts, affordable daily supplies to high prices for health care, with profits up to several times higher。
