The "dream" of film and television investment is shattered, and what is the crazy "investment money"?
The reporter's investigation unveiled the layers of fog of film and television investment scams
In recent years, the development of the mainland film and television industry has been in full swing, and terms such as top stars, famous IP, and film and television crowdfunding have gradually entered the public eye, and the high dividends of film and television investment have also attracted more and more investors to want a piece of the pie.
However, due to the fact that ordinary investors often have insufficient understanding of the complexity and risks of investment in the film and television field, scammers take the opportunity to use fictitious projects, exquisite packaging, and pyramid scheme-style promotion methods to carefully weave one trap after another, defrauding many investors of their "pension money" and "medical money".
What are the types of film and television investment scams? Can ordinary investors have access to formal film and television investment projects? On the occasion of the 15th "5.15" National Public Security Organs' Publicity Day for Cracking Down on and Preventing Economic Crimes, reporters from the News Media Center of the Ministry of Public Security conducted in-depth investigations in many places to uncover the layers of fog of film and television investment scams.
"I can't believe such investment propaganda, it's all a lie!" ……
Liu Mouli from Fuyang, Anhui Province, still doesn't want to believe that she will lose a lot of money because of the so-called film and television investment, and even step by step on the road of breaking the law and committing crimes.
In 2021, after coming into contact with the "Dream Film and Television" App investment platform, Liu Mouli was attracted by the so-called propaganda of "overtaking in corners to achieve financial freedom" and "one person and one mobile phone lying at home to make money", not only did she frantically "invest money", but also frantically "pulled people's heads" to develop offline in accordance with the income rules set by the platform, until many investors lost their money and the public security organs cracked down in accordance with the law, she found that she had already fallen into it and became a key part of illegal pyramid marketing activities.
Dressed in the cloak of film and television investment, many scams have been derived in the investment and financing process. In recent years, the public security economic investigation department has attached great importance to cracking down on economic crimes related to film and television investment, and the public security organs in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other places have achieved success. Through on-the-spot research, the reporter found that these cases often involve a variety of criminal types such as illegal absorption of public deposits, fund-raising fraud, contract fraud, and organizing and leading pyramid schemes.
In the name of talking about friends, stock exchanges, etc
Use the "pig killing plate" method to lure into the game
Layer by layer development offline
"'Teacher, the stock market has been bad lately, is there a better investment project?' This is 'To' throwing up the topic. ”
"'Teacher, you made money investing in film and television last time, can you take me with you again?' This is another 'to' in the follow-up. ”
"'Teacher, you take us', 'Teacher, it's definitely right to follow you to vote.'" These are also 'trusts'. ”
……
When Chen Yu, deputy captain of the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Jingkou Branch of the Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau in Jiangsu Province, analyzed the chat records of the WeChat group little by little, Ms. Peng, the victim of the contract fraud case of the "Tianying" company, still asked without giving up: "In this group, I am really the only one who is an investor, and the rest are 'trust'?" ”
From 2021 to 2022, the Jingkou Branch of the Zhenjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau successively received reports from hundreds of victims from many places across the country, saying that they had been deceived as a result of investing in a film and television drama production project. Among them, many victims fell into the scam step by step through the so-called "stock exchange group".
Zhenjiang Tianying Film Company
"Film and television investment scams often have a level responsible for expanding the investment community, and this level is mainly responsible for attracting more investors to participate in the scammer project." Chen Yu introduced that like the traditional "pig killing plate", scammers contact investors through channels such as so-called acquaintance search WeChat accounts, emotional website dating, investment and financial management page addition, and gain trust step by step, until finally tricked into investing in so-called film and television projects.
Stock exchanges are fake, emotional exchanges are also fake, and in the end, they will always come around to a topic, that is, to let investors know about the so-called film and television investment projects, and then trick investors step by step.
In the case of illegal fund-raising of "investment films" uncovered by the Jiangxi public security economic investigation department, and the case of "fantasy film and television" organization and leading pyramid marketing activities uncovered by the Fuyang public security economic investigation department, there were acts of soliciting and luring investors under the pretext of talking about friends and stock exchanges.
"In this kind of scam, some will find professional 'pig killing plate' gangs, and some will even set rules to encourage the development of downlines at all levels, and if there are enough development levels, it constitutes a pyramid scheme." Gui Chang, a police officer of the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Yingzhou Branch of the Fuyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, introduced that the fraudulent company invested in the platform through the "Dream Film and Television" App, and encouraged members to develop offline at all levels in the name of cashing back on movie tickets for cinemas, which made the number of people on the platform expand rapidly, until the "fake project" of buying film copyrights and pre-sale dividends was launched to further "harvest" and cheat money.
Ironically, Liu Mouqin, the person in charge of the Fuyang region who developed Liu Mouli and other backbones, said that she met her boyfriend Chen Moumou on a dating website, and it was this Chen Moumou, who had never met him, who recommended the "Dream Film and Television" App to her, and guided her step by step to expand the MLM network in Fuyang.
Set up a company to build a fake platform
Clever name exquisite packaging "tall" project
"They have an entire floor of office building, and they organized us to visit it."
"Their platform is full of the latest theatrical movies, and ticket prices are updated in real time."
"Celebrity congratulatory videos are one after another, and the movies invested and shot have star platforms."
……
No matter how you expand the hierarchy and how you develop the investment participation group, the ultimate goal of the scammer gang is only one, that is, to throw out a so-called film and television drama production project to attract investment, and finally realize the fraud of money.
In order to make the project more credible, the scammer gang has set up so-called companies, built fake platforms, organized online and offline activities, etc., to make investors believe that the project is "high".
Jiangxi's Ah Rong likes to speculate in stocks and also likes movies. In 2021, he heard the introduction of the "lecturer" in the "stock exchange group": a film company in Jiangxi is selling a movie ticket, and the company promises that investors who buy the movie ticket will not only receive dividends from the box office revenue of the movie, but also have the opportunity to visit the stars at the film shooting site.
With the in-depth introduction of the "lecturer", Ah Rong was moved. However, Ah Rong, who had not let down his guard, visited the company on the second day of the initial agreement, and saw the company's office on a full floor, which strengthened his confidence in investing.
In the end, Ah Rong did not wait for the opening ceremony and filming visit mentioned in the publicity, but waited for the person who temporarily leased the office space of the fraudulent company to go to the empty building.
Photographs of the seized items
"Temporarily leasing office space, registering the corresponding company to obtain the certification of the query platform, and even directly showing the business license are all means for scammers to lower their vigilance." Chen Yu introduced that in many such cases detected in Jiangsu, Jiangxi and other places, in addition to similar packaging methods, it was also found that the posters and videos of the so-called star platforms were actually forged by dubbing synthesis, PS and other technical means.
In addition to packaging offline, scammers will also build fake platforms online to "circle money". In the case of the "Dream Film and Television" organization and leadership of pyramid marketing activities in Fuyang, Anhui Province, this characteristic is even more obvious.
"Invite friends to earn red envelopes", "Recruit agents, monthly income of more than 10,000 is not a dream...... In Liu Mouli's WeChat circle of friends, the promotion screenshots are very confusing. The mobile app platform with servers located overseas, professional maintenance personnel, and real-time updates of movie information has made many investors fall for it step by step until they become a member of the pyramid scheme.
Falsified Earnings Contracts Fictitious investment shares
Scams mostly involve contract fraud
Illegal fundraising and other crimes
In the process of handling the contract fraud case of Zhenjiang "Tianying" Company, Chen Yu gradually developed the habit of analyzing the box office of movies, and there are many professional software on his mobile phone, so he can skillfully use professional software to check the box office share of the released movies; After hosting a film and television investment fraud case, Ying Leiming, a police officer of the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Yinzhou Branch of the Ningbo Municipal Public Security Bureau, became an "expert" in the field of film and television investment from a "little white" in the film and television industry. As long as he mentions "nouns in the circle" such as "fan attraction and drainage" and "water army team", he will gush endlessly.
Film and television investment has high technical barriers and requires corresponding professional knowledge. In order to better investigate and handle such cases, the police who have investigated and handled cases have supplemented their knowledge of the film and television industry.
The complexity of the settlement of the proceeds of film and television projects gives criminals room to operate, and often a contract for the transfer of film revenue rights is enough to make ordinary investors confused. In the process of handling the case, the public security organs found that with the continuous escalation of modus operandi, such scams often involve illegal and criminal activities such as contract fraud and illegal fundraising.
The police handling the case are analyzing and judging the funds involved in the case.
When the reporter interviewed and investigated, it was found that among the cases that have been detected, the so-called investment share of film and television dramas in some cases is real, but it is often accompanied by inflated costs and over-sales, and the so-called share is just a "trick" to evade the crackdown.
In the contract fraud case of Zhenjiang "Sky Shadow" Company, the suspect did purchase 30% of the copyright of a certain movie through channels, but exaggerated the estimated production cost of 140 million yuan in the original copyright to 350 million yuan, and recruited middlemen to promote the film copyright and income rights for him through high rebate rewards, so as to obtain high profits. Regardless of the final box office, investors' funds will be "empty".
The police handling the case are conducting a seminar on the case.
However, in the film and television drama investment scam, the so-called film and television drama investment share is more often fictitious and forged.
Ying Leiming introduced that in the film and television investment fraud case cracked by the Ningbo Public Security, the company involved in the case purchased a large number of fake seals of film and television companies from a website, forged film and television revenue rights contracts, fabricated the fact that film shares had been obtained, recruited agents to solicit customers to sign film revenue rights transfer contracts with the company, and deceived investors across the country to invest.
"Any film and television drama investment and production will not be financed for ordinary investors, and investors need to be found through formal channels." Chen Yu said that as long as this core point is grasped, investors will not be fooled.
People go to the empty building, and the platform cannot withdraw cash
After the project "exploded", investors regretted it
In June 2021, many investors in Zhenjiang successively found that not only did the agreed income not arrive, but the exclusive customer service of the so-called "Tianying" company's film and television investment could not be contacted;
In November 2021, investors in Fuyang found that their investments on the "Dream Film and Television" App platform and the so-called profit funds could not be withdrawn or invested in the next project;
Since April 2022, the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Yinzhou Branch of the Ningbo Municipal Public Security Bureau has successively received reports from the masses, saying that they have invested in upcoming films through a film and television company in Zhejiang, but they have not received the promised benefits;
……
People go to empty buildings, exclusive customer service loses contact, and income cannot be withdrawn to the account, and in the end, all the investor's funds are in vain.
The police of the Economic Crime Receiving and Reporting Center of the Fuyang Municipal Public Security Bureau received the masses who came to consult.
"When all investors find that the funds in the platform cannot be withdrawn, the dream of making rich is shattered." Qu Kai, a police officer from the Economic Investigation Brigade of the Yingzhou Branch of the Fuyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, said that most of these cases carry out criminal activities through false project packaging, high return promises, exaggerating the prospects of film distribution, illegal sales of copyright shares, illegal establishment of investment platforms, and pyramid scheme-style development offline. Criminal gangs often "run away" after "absorbing money" for a period of time, and investors' network contact information will be suddenly blocked, and investment funds will be lost heavily.
In November 2021, the Fuyang Public Security Economic Investigation Department made every effort to crack the case of organizing and leading pyramid marketing activities of "Dream Film and Television", and 5 people, including Liu Mouqin and Liu Mouli, were sentenced to five years in prison by the Yingzhou District People's Court of Fuyang City for organizing and leading pyramid marketing activities;
In October 2022, the Ningbo Public Security Bureau made every effort to crack a film and television investment fraud case, and cooperated with the public security organs of 6 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Guangxi, Shanghai and Ningbo to take concentrated actions and arrest 7 criminal suspects;
From May to October 2023, the Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau has successively launched centralized network collection operations in Shanghai, Anhui, Guizhou, Jiangxi and other places against gangs related to the contract fraud case of "Tianying" Company, and so far 40 criminal suspects have been arrested, and more than 5 million yuan of funds involved in the case have been frozen and seized;
……
The police of the Zhenjiang Municipal Public Security Bureau publicized anti-fraud knowledge to the masses at the "5.15" Economic Investigation Publicity Day.
With the successful cracking of a case of economic crimes related to film and television investment, it has greatly dealt a blow to the arrogance of criminals and made more and more people realize the harmfulness of such cases.
"It is necessary to continuously increase the intensity of the crackdown on economic crime cases related to film and television investment, and earnestly protect the people's 'money bags'." The relevant person in charge of the Economic Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security said that the public security economic investigation department will further strengthen regional cooperation, communication and coordination, give full play to the functional advantages of the police department, and always maintain a high-pressure posture of cracking down on economic crime cases related to film and television investment. At the same time, we should strengthen the use of cases to explain the law and continuously enhance the public's awareness of the prevention of such scams.
Source: People's Public Security Daily