In daily life, there are often unknown phone calls claiming to pull people into stock groups for free; various stock lecture advertisements are also frequently seen on online platforms. Many people enter with the mindset of just looking around and listening to lectures without spending money, only to find themselves gradually trapped in a scam vortex, suffering heavy losses. During the investigation, the reporter discovered that these so-called 'teachers' in the stock groups first recommended stocks, gaining trust, and then recommended their own issued virtual digital currency to deceive investors out of their money.
The so-called 'virtual currency' claims a 100-fold premium. The website closed down and absconded with funds.
After posing as an investor, the reporter discovered that many victims across the country joined the group for free.
Source of the audio - a lecture in a stock group: Beitman is the first and only digital currency platform in our country about to launch. The platform will issue its platform coin equivalent to its stock, akin to an IPO. I estimate that its platform coin will have a premium of 10 to 20 times, or even 100 times.
Under the so-called temptation of 10 to 100 times profit, many people bought a large amount of 'virtual currency'. Suddenly, the Beitman virtual currency trading platform closed overnight, without any warning, the stock group was disbanded, and no so-called 'teachers' or 'customer service' could be reached. All the funds invested by the victims could not be withdrawn. Some victims reported losses of up to one million yuan.
Investor from Beijing: On April 9th at 1 AM, after waking up in the middle of the night, I checked my phone to see how the market was doing, and found that the platform wouldn't open, all the numbers were gone, and my account was empty. Those groups were gone, and all links were inaccessible. I was scammed out of more than 400,000 yuan, with some losing over one million yuan.
Investor from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province: My husband is ill, we took out loans, and basically, over one million yuan was borrowed. The main problem now is that I have a child in school; if I can't pay my credit card, it will affect my credit history, and my child won't be able to continue schooling. I have no way out.
A woman with nearly 20 years of stock experience, very cautious in investing, thought she would definitely not be scammed. At first, she was not moved by others in the group following the teacher's operations in digital currency. However, as people in the group kept posting screenshots of super high profits, and with the 'teacher' constantly brainwashing, she also invested her first sum with a 'let's give it a try' mentality.
Investor from Pingdingshan, Henan Province: I couldn't resist the temptation and first transferred 4,000 yuan. I won a new stock lottery, and at midnight bought in again, totaling 44,000 yuan all invested. After investing, they said it was a lock-up period, and then began issuing platform coins, which promised 10 times profit.
Lawyer from Kangda Law Firm in Beijing
Xia Yu: According to Article 266 of our country's (Criminal Law), it involves fraud. Depending on the specific circumstances of the crime, the maximum penalty could be over 10 years of imprisonment, or even life imprisonment.
Using stock lectures as a guise to deceive elderly people with emotional manipulation.
Why can this common fraud pattern persist? The reporter found that, in addition to playing on emotions to gain the victims' trust, the most important aspect is that these fraud groups often impersonate large, legitimate financial platforms to endorse themselves, fabricating false stories of overnight wealth to lure victims.
The reporter saw in the stock group that this online lecture platform is called 'Langsheng Doubling Lecture Hall'. Investors joined through its stock lecture advertisements, many initially entering the platform with a 'let's see' attitude. In addition to lectures, every night the so-called 'teachers' would send long texts to answer questions for 'students', with 'assistant teachers' with beautiful profile pictures answering 'students' stock inquiries at any time. After gradually gaining trust, the 'teachers' persuaded 'students' to purchase virtual digital currency.
Investor from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province: They initially recommended a few stocks that made money, but later recommended stocks they no longer managed, just told you to hold them, and then said the market was bad, urging you to sell all your stocks to buy new coins.
Investor from Beijing: The profits from virtual currency are too high, soaring to several yuan or dozens of yuan in a short time. We were aiming for 10 times profit. The teaching was very persuasive, and they cared a lot.
Many victims told the reporter that they had also had doubts, but the fraud groups repeatedly used the identities of large brokerage firms as endorsements to confuse investors. The reporter saw in the stock group that once an investor expressed doubt, they would be immediately muted or kicked out of the group, leaving only those who had no exposure to virtual currency and lacked financial knowledge.
Victims revealed to the reporter that until now they have never met this so-called General Li of the securities company, and didn't even know his full name.
Moreover, they only realized afterward that the 'Beitman virtual currency trading platform' actually does not exist, and the so-called 'virtual currency' new offerings and price fluctuations are not real, entirely fabricated by the fraudulent platform.
Five types of online fraud continue to occur frequently; police remind to be cautious.
Currently, multiple victims have reported the case. The reporter found during the investigation that many similar fraud groups are still deceiving people. So how should ordinary investors avoid being scammed?
Many victims told the reporter that they recently found new stock lecture platforms and new digital currency trading platforms emerging. When they registered and logged in with their phone number and ID information, they found that anyone who had previously registered on the Beitman trading platform found their account frozen and could not enter after registering on the new so-called 'Osman Trading Platform'.
Investor from Beijing: I found an Osman platform, also dealing in digital currency. The content is the same as Beitman, just the name is different. The coin types have some differences, but other operational methods, including fund management, new coin subscription, and transaction query, are identical.
The reporter also found on multiple online platforms that many victims were scammed using the same methods at different times. Apart from the names of the platforms and the lecturers being different, the other fraudulent methods were almost completely the same. After learning they had been scammed, multiple victims have already reported to the police.
Staff from the Hongxing Police Station of the Daxing Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau: This case has been filed and is under investigation, with criminal police responsible for the follow-up.
The police stated that there are many similar fraud cases, and investors must remain vigilant. After transferring funds to unfamiliar accounts, if anything seems unusual, they should report to the police immediately.
Currently, the types of fraud discovered by public security agencies have exceeded 50, of which five main types are high frequency and prevalent: online brushing and rebate, fake investment and financial management, fake online loans, impersonating customer service, and impersonating public security and judiciary.
Lawyer Xia Yu from Kangda Law Firm in Beijing: I remind investors to choose legitimate and lawful investment channels. Remember that 'there is no free lunch', and be wary of investments promising excessively high returns.
