Under multiple regulatory rectifications, Internet financial risks have been effectively controlled. After the problematic platform gradually exposed the risk and was unable to pay, there were frequent runaways and loss of connection, leaving only impatient investors constantly asking when they could get the money back. This allowed scammers to find new “hunting targets.” On October 26, a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily noticed that fraudulent activities under the banner of payment collection on the Internet financial platform were still spreading. After attracting users through text messages, emails and other methods, they induced users to contribute funds.
Platform cashes first payment
“Dear Aifangzhuo users, thank you for your long-term support to our company. Now our company has carried out the collection of some loan users under the supervision of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Users who have received the notice should also come to Tencent’s official group: 8013× The plan is selected within ×××. At present, the funds are limited, and users who have not yet made the payment should not be discouraged.” On October 26, user Lin Jie (pseudonym) showed a letter from Shenzhen Qianhai Real Estate Internet to a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily. Mail from Financial Services Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Qianhai Housing Fund”).
However, Lin Jie affirmatively told reporters from Beijing Business Daily that he himself had never used the Aifangqin platform, nor did he conduct investment operations on other Internet financial platforms, and did not understand the situation mentioned in the email.
Following the information provided by Lin Jie, a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily used false identity information to enter a QQ group called “Afangchai Officials Signed Clearance and Payment Group”, and the group owner was called “China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.” After reporters from Beijing Commercial Daily entered the group chat, new users in the group continued to join the group, and said that they received payment notifications via email, telephone, etc., and entered the group as required.
At the same time, the administrators in the group have been using words like “Limited Receipts” and “Less Available Funds” to remind users to hurry up and contact customer service to select a repayment plan. In the group announcement, “After investigation by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the company’s remaining funds are currently transferred to a third-party exchange, and under the guidance of the China Banking Regulatory Commission to develop a risk mitigation plan, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission designated a third-party exchange for bond transfers in Chinese currency.” The user is prompted.
When users in the group talked about the authenticity of the payment, a “customer service” privately chatted with a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily and asked for an ID card,cell phoneThe account number, principal and interest amount, etc., and said that under the supervision of the “Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission”, the refund operation is strictly conducted through a third-party platform. Although the information provided was false, the “customer service” prepared an application certificate for the Beijing Commercial Daily reporter “I” with a payment amount of more than 50,000 yuan.
According to “Customer Service”, in accordance with the requirements of the “Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission”, funds users of the Aifang Funds platform will be redeemed on a platform called China Currency International Exchange. The user can start the principal and interest redemption plan by paying a certain amount of repayment base to the China Currency International Exchange. After the end of the cycle, the advance amount and the principal and interest payable will be returned together.
According to the 4 redemption schemes given by “Customer Service”, users can choose to inject 60%, 45%, 30%, 20% of total assets to China Currency International Exchange as the base of payment. According to the payment, the payment can be returned. Within the same day, 3 days, 7 days, and 10 days to reach the user’s account in China Currency International Exchange, the user can withdraw cash by himself.
Take the Beijing Business Daily reporter’s 50,000 yuan repayment amount as an example. If you choose to inject 60% of the capital in the China Currency International Exchange, that is, 30,000 yuan, you can receive 50,000 yuan in return and 30,000 yuan capital injection on the same day; if you choose to register 20%, or 10,000 yuan, will be paid back within 10 days.
“At the point of redemption, the scam has basically surfaced in its entirety.” Yu Baicheng, director of Zero One Research Institute, analyzed and pointed out that a certain fee needs to be paid before redemption, which obviously does not conform to the conventional redemption process. Public information shows that Aifang Fund has already experienced redemption problems in 2016, and even if the money is returned, it is not supervised by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Scammers took advantage of the lack of financial knowledge of P2P investors and the urgency of getting back investment funds to commit fraud.
Multiple “cares” in a group
A reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned that Qianhai Fangcun is the main operating company of the P2P platform Aifangcai, and it is mainly engaged in real estate crowdfunding projects. In June 2016, there was a redemption crisis in Aifang. In July 2017, the company’s legal representative, Chen Hongkai, was arrested for the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits. Currently, Qianhai Real Estate Group has been included in the ranks of untrustworthy enforcers and serious violations of the law.
The criminal verdict issued by the People’s Court of Tianhe District, Guangzhou City in March 2020 shows that the Aifang Finance platform raises investment funds from unspecified groups of people in the form of crowdfunding, realizes profits through the appreciation of real estate and leases, and promises annualized income10 %-18% attract customers to invest. As of October 2018, a total of 213 victims have reported the case, involving 45,257,800 yuan, causing a loss of 43.755 million yuan. Chen Hongkai was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and refunded the illegal gains.
On October 25, regarding the authenticity of the aforementioned redemption plan, a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily contacted Qianhai Real Estate Fund to find out the specific situation many times, but did not receive a reply from the other party. As for the China Currency International Exchange, which plays the role of a third-party platform, a reporter from Beijing Commercial Daily failed to find a download channel in the official app mall, and its operator has nowhere to verify, and can only operate through the link provided by the “customer service”.
In the “Officially Signed Refund and Payment Group of Aifang Funds”, some users left messages prompting to proceed cautiously and be careful of being reaped. There are also some users who claim to have received the initial payment and are waiting for the final installment. But when asked to provide relevant proof, the user only provided a screenshot of the bank card to the account, and the authenticity of his identity remains to be verified.
More interestingly, in order to prevent users from being deceived, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily sent a private message to a person in the group who spoke more actively and appeared to be a real user to remind them, emphasizing that the real payment of the platform will not require users to pay again. After that, reporters from Beijing Commercial Daily were “kicked” out of the group chat, and the so-called small group interacting with the staff of the “Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission” was quickly disbanded.
In this regard, Analysys senior analyst Su Xiaorui said that in order to attract real users, scammers often play multiple roles to enhance the credibility of the scam and make users relax their vigilance and defraud one person. .
In Su Xiaorui’s view, the scams surrounding online loan platform payments have a certain degree of accuracy in positioning the target users. , Bank accounts and other information are naturally integrated. On the other hand, it is also due to the fact that some online loan platforms are in the liquidation phase, or have long been disconnected, and the repayment is in a state of disorder, which makes criminals take advantage of the void.
Second harvest
A reporter from Beijing Business Daily further investigated and found that, in addition to “love house financing,” such fraudulent activities under the banner of payment collection on Internet financial platforms are not uncommon. Through the collected user information, spread the Internet in the form of emails, text messages, etc., and use the words “priority payment right”, “early payment”, “internal policy payment” and other words to practice telecom fraud. Investors carry out a second harvest.
In response to this situation, regional Internet financial risk special rectification working groups have issued risk warnings. On September 8th, the Nanning City Finance Office issued a risk warning on the false information on the online loan platform’s payment return, pointing out that Guangxi Qianpen Technology Co., Ltd. was suspected of illegally absorbing public deposits, and some institutions or individuals provided the company’s return payment In order to lure the lender to “add group”, use the lender’s eagerness to collect the money to commit fraud, and the relevant clues have been transferred to the public security organs for disposal.
The Nanning City Finance Office reminded that the withdrawal of funds raised by the judiciary must be uniformly cleared in accordance with the law. The lender must be vigilant, enhance risk prevention awareness and identification capabilities, and do not trust the promise of “early collection”, let alone any group in the group. Individuals and units remit money, and beware of being deceived. If you find clues that are suspected of violating the law, you can take the initiative to report the case to the local public security agency for handling.
Su Xiaorui also pointed out that after receiving the relevant prompt information, users should first pay attention to the identity of the publisher of such information and whether they have valid certification related to official personnel; secondly, look for announcements from public channels such as official websites and public accounts. Information, scammers often use social software such as WeChat and QQ groups to hide their whereabouts.
“In daily life, we should also pay attention to protecting personal information, including personal identification information, investment records, bank card accounts and other sensitive information, and not easily fill in or disclose it under uncertain conditions.” Su Xiaorui added.
