Scammers target elderly with fake 'time machine,' pocket R69 million

They couple boasted that oxygen therapy might make the older people younger in a matter of months. Picture: Pexels

They couple boasted that oxygen therapy might make the older people younger in a matter of months. Picture: Pexels

Published Oct 14, 2024

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Time is a straight arrow, as humans grow and age and our bodies reflect this. However, many in society who have grown into retirement yearn for youth.

Taking an advantage of this, a couple scammed dozens of senior citizens out of their hard-earned money by claiming that they would bring back their youth with a ‘Israel-made time machine’.

Hindustan Times reported that the duo from India, Rajeev Kumar Dubey and his wife, Rashmi Dubey, operated the vast fraud out of their ‘treatment clinic’, where they claimed a machine from Israel could turn a 60-year-old into a 25-year-old.

The couple reportedly informed gullible elderly people that too much pollution in the air was causing premature ageing. They boasted that oxygen therapy might make them younger in a matter of months.

Three couples supposedly have come forward and said they were scammed. Based on the Times of India, Chandel said that the pair converted their business into a pyramid scheme. If a customer brought another person, they would receive the next session for free.

Police estimate that approximately 25 couples lost money as a result of the fraud. The Dubeys are currently missing, and it is believed that they have fled the country.

“They offered packages for Rs 6,000 (R1,264) for 10 sessions and Rs 90,000 (R18,788) for a three-year reward system,” a senior police official Anjali Vishwakarma told NDTV.

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