Recently, the Chinese reporter of the brokerage company exclusively learned from the fund industry that some investors recently received the "Refund Announcement" of "SDIC UBS Fund", "China Universal Fund" and "Penghua Fund", saying that the fund company's capital chain is broken and cannot continue to operate, and QQ needs to be added to handle the refund. This kind of document is very realistic, not only with the "red head official seal" of the fund company, but also the "handwritten signature" of the legal representative of the fund company. Brokerage China reporters learned from fund companies that this is a fraud by criminals, and this kind of behavior is also widely used in trust, education and training and other fields.
Although the fund company has repeatedly clarified, new types of "Li Ghost" are still emerging. In particular, the name, mobile phone number, and home address on the courier of the counterfeit document are exactly the same as those of the investor himself. This can't help but make the market doubt whether the fund company's internal control is compliant (to ensure the security of investor information) and other aspects: how is the investor's information leaked? Some analysts have pointed out that traditional monitoring methods have certain limitations in dealing with social media fraud. With the widespread application of artificial intelligence technology by criminals, the fund industry urgently needs to combine new technologies for risk prevention. ”
The claim that "the capital chain is broken" is quite "official".
According to a recent post posted by a netizen on social platforms, the netizen received a document titled "SDIC UBS Fund Refund Announcement", which reads: "UBS SDIC was unable to continue operating due to insufficient capacity and poor management, resulting in the rupture of the capital chain, and sent a letter to officially announce the withdrawal of all funds." At the same time, the document also said that in order to fully carry out refund liquidation, UBS SDIC Fund and the national 12315 platform have established a special refund team, which requires investors to add customer service QQ to handle refund matters.
On the face of it, this is quite an "official" document. The letterhead of the document not only indicates "National 12315 Platform", but also has the official seal of UBS SDIC Fund Management Co., Ltd. in the lower right corner, and the "handwritten signature" of Fu Qiang, the legal representative of UBS SDIC Fund, on the left.
Image source: Today's headlines
Brokerage China reporters learned from UBS SDIC that the document did not come from UBS SDIC, and UBS SDIC did not have incidents such as "due to lack of ability and poor management, resulting in the rupture of the capital chain and inability to continue operation". "This situation is a scam. We've made a statement. There are other companies that have received similar emails with the same template. SDIC UBS Fund related people clarified to the brokerage China reporter.
According to a statement from UBS SDIC Fund, UBS SDIC Fund said that there were cases of fraudulent use of the company's information to carry out illegal financial activities in the market. All public disclosure information of the company and its funds are subject to the announcement of the designated information disclosure media and the company's only website, the company and its subsidiaries have never carried out agency stock trading, stock investment consulting and foreign exchange transactions to the public, nor have they cooperated with any institution or individual to carry out the above activities, investment and financial management should be carried out through formal channels, beware of being deceived, and effectively protect their legitimate rights and interests from infringement.
Brokerage China reporters also found that similar routines also happened to China Universal Fund. The same forged documents, the same wording, the same "red-headed official seal" of China Universal Fund and the "handwritten signature" of the legal representative Li Wen. Some fund people told the Chinese reporter of the brokerage that this kind of situation is not uncommon, in addition to the fund industry, it also exists in the fields of trust, education and training.
Image source: A public offering insider provided to a brokerage China reporter
Fund subsidiaries were also targeted
For a long time, criminals impersonating fund companies (including employees and fund managers) to carry out illegal acts have occurred from time to time, and fund companies have frequently issued clarification announcements. However, judging from the long-term tracking of Chinese reporters from brokerages, cases similar to the above-mentioned "high-simulation" modus operandi such as "red-headed documents" and "company seals" are still rare. Shanghai Orange Lai Financial Information Service Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Orange Lai Financial Services") bluntly said that it is a new type of "Li Ghost".
A public offering market person told a Chinese reporter from a brokerage firm that fund companies have been exposed to such complaints from time to time, and first, they have close contact with the customer service department or e-commerce department. The details of each situation are different, but the general tone is basically the same, and all of them are illegal activities under the guise of the company. Some of these activities involve illegal behaviors such as downloading unfamiliar apps and soliciting group stock recommendations, but some involve financial fraud such as opening accounts and investing. "When issuing a clarification announcement, we generally follow the provisions of the announcement and generally do not disclose too many details."
According to the statistics of Flush iFinD, as of May 9, there are more than 10 fund companies that have issued similar clarification announcements this year. There are not only small and medium-sized public offerings such as Changsheng Fund, South China Fund, and Mingya Fund, but also head public offerings with high brand maturity such as Wells Fargo Fund and Huatai Barry Fund.
For example, on May 7, the Red Earth Innovation Fund pointed out in a clarification announcement that some criminals have recently impersonated the name of the company and its employees, forged the licenses of financial institutions, and induced investors to click on links from unknown sources and download mobile applications (APPs) such as "Red Earth Fund" and "Red Earth General Office" under the banner of "education platform refund", and carried out illegal profit-making behaviors and defrauded investors of money by "purchasing funds first and then refunding training fees".
According to the previous announcement of Essence Fund, the fund's subsidiaries have become the target of "Li Ghost". Some criminals impersonated the names of Essence Fund and its subsidiary (Essence Qiansheng Wealth Management (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.) and the company's employees, fabricated investment training organizations, published false information, misled investors, and were suspected of committing fraud to investors. Essence Fund emphasizes that the company's subsidiaries and employees of the company and the employees of subsidiaries have not provided any securities consulting services such as investment analysis, prediction or advice on individual stocks and individual securities to public investors, and must not participate in any offline meetings or online communities (including live broadcasts, etc.) held in the name of the company and its subsidiaries.
How is investor information leaked?
In fact, since 2024, fund companies have carried out the popularization of relevant fraud prevention cases. In addition, since the beginning of this year, the securities regulatory bureaus in Sichuan, Hebei and other places have increased the relevant risk warnings. But even so, new types of "Li ghosts" are still emerging.
Orange Lai Financial Services said that the fund company suffered the "Li Ghost" incident, and investors suffered losses from time to time, and fraud methods emerged in an endless stream: downloaded to the fake public offering APP, the principal of the investment disappeared; Forward the download link to withdraw the money, and then the bank card is stolen; Using a forged business license and impersonating the identity of the company's employees to induce investors to transfer funds to unknown accounts through QQ groups, APP clients, fake website links, etc.
Brokerage China reporters found that after the "Li Ghost" case of UBS SDIC and China Universal Fund, the market's call for information protection from investors, fund companies and other parties has also increased.
Some investors who received the above-mentioned "red-headed documents" questioned: "The name, mobile phone number, and home address on the refund notice I received are exactly the same. The point is that I also invested in this fund company (UBS SDIC Fund), how was my information leaked? There are also fund people who said to the Chinese reporter of the brokerage: "This kind of official seal is actually easy to imitate, why did 'Li Ghost' choose this fund company?" ”
"It has to do with the channel through which the fund is purchased. At present, most investors buy through third-party channels, and most of the information is also left in third-party channels, and it is difficult to say whether these channels have leaked information. The probability of information leaking out of the fund company may not be very large. The above-mentioned fund person said.
"With the popularity of social media, social media platforms spread information rapidly, and the risk of user privacy leakage increases, and fraudsters use it to carry out criminal activities, bringing losses to users and businesses. At the same time, investors have large funds and high information value, which makes them vulnerable to fraudsters. From the user's point of view, fraudsters pretend to be fund companies, which can easily cause customers to encounter fraud and suffer property losses; From the perspective of the fund company, the fund company was fraudulently used to discredit the brand image and investment research capabilities of the fund company, and at the same time, investors will also have doubts about whether the fund company's internal control is compliant (to ensure the security of investors' information), which damages the reputation of the fund company.
Orange Lai Financial Services pointed out that investors have high expectations for fund companies on how to prevent "Li Ghost" fraud, and they believe that discovering "Li Ghost", reducing "Li Ghost", and reminding investors to pay attention to "Li Ghost" are all listed as the responsibility of fund companies. "However, the concealment of Internet crime is strong and more convenient, the traditional monitoring methods have certain limitations in dealing with social media fraud, and the false content monitoring mode based on passive defense has been challenged, and fund companies are also unable to prevent such criminals in cracking down on such criminals, and with the widespread application of artificial intelligence technology by criminals, the fund industry urgently needs to combine new technologies for risk prevention."
Editor-in-charge: Wang Lulu
Proofreading: Wang Wei