Source: Securities Daily
Recently, in the context of the continuous heating up of capital market trading and the "account opening fever", some criminals have used "illegal stock recommendation", paid consulting and other means to set up many "traps" on various social platforms, specifically targeting new investors who lack market experience and relevant knowledge, in the name of "guiding investment", committing fraud, seriously infringing on the interests of investors and disrupting the market order. In order to cope with the current challenges, securities firms are actively taking action to continuously enhance investor education and anti-fraud publicity, and at the same time comprehensively carry out the popularization of basic knowledge and guidance for new investors to invest in the right investment mentality.
"Illegal stock recommendation" is full of tricks
Recently, some criminals have made profits through illegal methods such as "illegal stock recommendation" on major social platforms. Taking the Douyin platform as an example, there are individual accounts that directly call on fans to take a full position on a specific stock, and there are also a few accounts that publish diversion content such as "unraveling", "sending information" and "adding group guidance" through content hints, private messages, group chats, etc., to induce users to "illegally recommend stocks" or commit fraud outside the site.
In accordance with relevant laws and regulations, the provision of direct or indirect paid consulting services such as securities investment analysis, forecasting or advice to investors is required to obtain a business license from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Institutions or individuals without license to provide such services are considered "illegal stock recommendations".
In response to all kinds of violations of laws and regulations, the Douyin Security Center recently issued a penalty announcement on cracking down on illegal securities activities such as "illegal stock recommendation", stating that it will resolutely crack down on all kinds of illegal securities activities, including "illegal stock recommendation". In the past month, Douyin has managed more than 3,600 illegal accounts related to the stock market and more than 15,000 illegal contents.
For example, from the end of September to the beginning of October this year, the Douyin account "Dalan" repeatedly posted predictions for the rise and fall of specific stocks, such as "which stock to buy for novices to make money by speculating in stocks" and "let's go directly to a certain stock at the opening", inciting netizens to buy a specific stock in full positions. Accounts such as "Stock Sea Talent Ah Ming" have repeatedly posted content predicting the rise and fall of specific stocks, and left private chat tool contact information in personal profiles and other places to lure users to add and ask for "information".
According to the investigation of the "Securities Daily" reporter, at present, there are illegal securities activities on multiple social platforms, and criminals carry out precise fraud by inducing investors to invest in individual stocks, inducing them to transfer funds to designated illegal trading software, and inducing them to pay into the group to obtain so-called "internal information" and investment guidance.
Ms. Liu, an investor, revealed to reporters that she had personally encountered a fraud method to promote "prediction of ups and downs" services by email; Bad actors make multiple predictions about the direction of a particular stock and send those predictions to different investors. In other words, no matter whether the stock rises or falls, there will always be some investors who will receive the "correct" forecast information, and then be induced by criminals to pay to join the group or buy its "forecast service", and eventually suffer financial losses.
Yang Haiping, a researcher at the Securities and Futures Research Institute of the Central University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with the Securities Daily: "In this round of stock market rally, some unqualified institutions and individuals have used short videos and other platforms to carry out "illegal stock recommendations" and spread false information. Such behavior may mislead investors in decision-making, bring losses to investors, and endanger the safety of investors' funds. For the capital market, such behavior may amplify investor sentiment and disrupt the normal order of the capital market. This kind of behavior requires the judicial department, the financial regulatory department, the communication industry department and other forces to work together to comprehensively deal with it. ”
Brokerages actively strengthen investor education
As an important intermediary in the capital market, brokerages also attach great importance to investor education while ushering in the "account opening fever". A number of securities firms have recently significantly increased the frequency of investor education activities, making full use of offline business departments, online apps and WeChat and other platforms to strengthen investor education in an all-round way from multiple dimensions such as popularizing basic market knowledge, adjusting investment mentality, and preventing fraud, aiming to help new investors better adapt to the market, invest rationally and prevent risks.
In view of the fact that a considerable number of new investors attracted by this rise are "post-90s" and "post-00s", and most of them are young investors with no experience in stock trading, brokerages have issued a number of "new customer trading guides" for new customers to help new investors familiarize themselves with the basic situation of the market. For example, SDIC Securities released "77 Stock Market Keywords for New Investors, Must Learn", Orient Securities released "Novice Market Entry Navigation - First Acquaintance with Stock Trading Rules", and China Post Securities also released "New Investors Must Guide! ", etc., to introduce basic market information and trading rules such as fund transfer, number of stock declarations, authority opening, auction trading time, price rise and fall limit, etc. for new shareholders.
In addition to the guidance of basic knowledge, the investor mentality is also the focus of the guidance of brokers. Recently, a number of brokerages have issued a "letter to new investors" to provide guidance and suggestions for new investors, remind new investors to make rational decisions, and guide investors to correctly view stock market fluctuations. For example, CITIC Securities said in "To New Friends Who Entered the Market for the First Time" that it hoped that investors would "not be in a hurry and go more stable"; The theme of the letter is "Investment is not a 100-meter sprint, but a marathon", advocating investors to adhere to the long-term investment philosophy; Huatai Securities also said in the letter that patience and calmness are the core capital of investment, and investors should cultivate independent thinking ability and set up a clear investment strategy to avoid falling into scams or suffering losses due to the herd mentality.
In terms of helping investors stay away from illegal securities activities, brokerages are continuing to increase their investment and education efforts. Recently, Haitong Securities launched the 2024 "Financial Education Publicity Month" special investment and education activities, and produced a series of innovative comic works such as "Prevention of Africa in Ancient Poems and Texts" and "Journey to the West: Entering Xiaoleiyin" to expose the means and characteristics of illegal financial advertising, illegal financial intermediation, "illegal stock recommendation" and other illegal acts. China Galaxy Securities has also launched a series of investment education information called "Warning by Case" to help investors stay away from illegal securities activities by regularly disclosing typical cases, explaining the law and warning with cases.
"For brokers, the first is to strengthen investor education, explain to investors the harm of "illegal stock recommendation" in various forms, guide investors to enhance risk awareness, form a correct investment concept, and improve the ability to identify illegal securities activities. Second, it is necessary to actively cooperate with regulatory authorities and communication platforms and other forces to jointly crack down on "illegal stock recommendation", maintain market fairness, and protect the rights and interests of investors. Yang Haiping further said. (Source: Securities Daily)