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Zhu Wenqian

A 32-year-old investor in central Hunan never expected a routine phone call about stock tips would leave him nursing heavy losses.
In a post on RedNote, he said a caller claiming ties to private equity firms offered daily stock recommendations, urging him to buy within fixed quotas in exchange for sharing half the profits.
“It was sketchy – I’m now trapped in the market and down almost 20 per cent,” he said on Thursday.
His experience reflects a broader surge in scams targeting retail investors, as fraudsters pose as market experts to sell tips and services.
Chinese authorities have shut down around 10 social media accounts for illegally recommending individual stocks, luring users into paid chat groups and selling misleading stock-picking software, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement on Thursday
The accounts operated across platforms including Weibo and RedNote, as well as video sites such as Bilibili and Kuaishou.
By posting profit screenshots, trading tips and live position updates, they enticed investors to follow stock picks and engage in herd trading, the regulator said.
Authorities urged investors to remain cautious, strengthen risk awareness and avoid illegal financial activities.
“The government has taken action against illegal stock-recommending accounts, as such practices have crossed legal lines, severely harming investors’ rights, disrupting capital market order and undermining trading fairness,” said Fu Yifu, a special research fellow at Su Merchants Bank.
Fu added that the surge in such scams was closely tied to the stock market’s rebound and a wave of inexperienced investors entering the market.

“They are eager to make profits but lack judgment and hold unrealistic hopes for ‘insider information’ and ‘sure-win strategies’,” he said.
Strong regulatory measures were therefore urgently needed to clean up the market environment, he added.
China’s major A-share indices were broadly steady on Friday after a strong rally in the previous session, underscoring the renewed market enthusiasm.
The Shenzhen Component Index rose more than 2 per cent to a four-year high, while the tech-heavy ChiNext index jumped over 3 per cent to its highest level in more than a decade. Over the past seven sessions until the close of Thursday trading, ChiNext surged more than 15 per cent.
The influx of new investors has created fertile ground for fraud. In a recent case, Jin Yongrong, an influencer with more than 100,000 followers on Xueqiu, was penalised for market manipulation after engaging in reverse trading.
On January 19, the Zhejiang bureau of the China Securities Regulatory Commission fined Jin more than 83 million yuan (US$12.2 million), including illegal gains, and banned him from the securities market for three years.
Many of the shuttered accounts had funnelled users into paid chat groups, promoting claims of “insider information”, “risk-free profits” and “expert advice” to justify high membership fees.
Others marketed so-called AI-powered stock-picking tools, using exaggerated claims of superior models and accurate forecasts to entice investors during live-streams.


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Business

Crackdown targets social media accounts offering bogus stock tips, paid groups and AI-driven tools amid surge in retail scams


Crackdown targets social media accounts offering bogus stock tips, paid groups and AI-driven tools amid surge in retail scams.


From hot tips to cold reality: China targets online stock scams hitting retail investors

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Crackdown targets social media accounts offering bogus stock tips, paid groups and AI-driven tools amid surge in retail scams

Crackdown targets social media accounts offering bogus stock tips, paid groups and AI-driven tools amid surge in retail scams