Enjoying "exclusive trading channels" for chasing price limits? A 10-billion macro private equity firm "trapped" by marketing rhetoric
When the Shanghai Composite Index keeps breaking new highs and daily limit surges keep coming up, well-known private equity firms have once again become targets for identity theft by scammers.
This time, the scammers have quietly updated their pitch: in the name of well-known private equity firms managing tens of billions, they offer investors a “dedicated trading channel” service.
Doesn’t it sound like you’re at the very peak of human intelligence and technology, “making money”? It naturally creates the feeling of having an absolute advantage for grabbing shares at limit up or escaping at limit down.
However, all of this may just be a “hunting game” set up by scammers...
The “Trap” in the Ten-Billion Private Equity Statement
Recently, Shanghai Honghu Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd. issued a statement, alleging that criminals are fraudulently using the company’s name to recruit investors through apps, WeChat groups, QR codes, under the guise of “stock recommendation services,” “trading courses,” and “dedicated trading seats.”
The company emphasized that it has never authorized any third party to carry out these activities, and that such conduct is not related to the company.
As an early domestic practitioner of macro hedging strategies among ten-billion private equities, Honghu Fund has long focused on multi-asset allocation strategies, with clients mainly high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors.
Such statements are not uncommon in the private equity industry, and are usually used to clarify illegal activities where outsiders impersonate private equity firms and their core personnel.
Surprisingly, this statement mentions “dedicated trading seats”—an extremely professional term—for the first time, which is very rare in private equity statements.
This wording makes Honghu Fund’s statement appear particularly “special,” and this detail has not yet been fully noticed in the industry.
What Is a “Dedicated Trading Seat”?
Due to limited public information, we cannot know the exact method used to impersonate Honghu Fund this time, nor how many investors may have been misled by these claims.
But information shows: the “dedicated trading seat” is not a fictional concept, but a real situation in the capital markets.
Simply put, it’s like having a dedicated seat for trading on the exchange through a broker.
Investors exclusively using this “seat” can transmit trade orders faster, especially when executing large orders (such as buying or selling a large amount of stocks at once) or using high-frequency trading strategies (making fast, frequent trades to profit from tiny price differences), but it is not a guarantee for making money. There is no such thing as an absolute advantage for chasing limit-up stocks.
Historically, insurance companies, QFII (Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors), public funds, or other qualifying institutions generally apply to use these seats, and it is rarely open to individuals.
Because of its highly professional mechanism and vague public understanding, scammers package it as a “scarce resource.”
This type of pitch is rarely seen in past private equity impersonation scams, but it precisely exploits the investor’s “know a little, but not deep enough” cognitive blind spot.
“Upgraded” Impersonation Pitch
Compared to frequent private equity impersonation cases in recent years, this time the claim of a “dedicated trading seat” marks an obvious shift in scamming techniques.
Reviewing past cases, impersonating well-known private equity firms usually takes three paths:
First is impersonating company executives, fund managers, or staff, recommending stocks or selling “high-yield products” via WeChat groups, live courses, etc.;
Second is building high-imitating apps, websites, and mini-programs, stealing institutional logos and promotional materials to create a façade of normalcy;
Third is using AI to generate fund manager voices or videos, faking “real person appearance” in fake livestreams or social groups, and deploying imitation platforms on overseas servers to skirt domestic regulation.
The appearance of the “dedicated trading seat” goes beyond the above framework and likely implies “using a certain channel can help you start ahead.”
Such claims were rarely seen in private equity clarification statements before. This shift means the impersonators’ communication strategy is moving from “scattergun-style temptation” to “high-threshold sophistication.”
How Misleading Is the "VIP Channel"?
Besides impersonation, there are also promotional activities in the market offering “VIP channels” or “independent seats” to individual investors.
Such promotions may not constitute direct scams, nor are they related to Honghu Fund or other private equity firms, but the sales logic clearly overlaps with the impersonation tactics mentioned above.
For instance: some public accounts in their “service content” claim that through a specific channel, you can “grab the first limit-up order,” or that “fewer seat participants” can raise your order ranking, referencing real trading procedures like the “9:15 knock-on mechanism,” implying that channel selection can affect transaction order.
Some of these claims are based on brokers offering order optimization to high-net-worth clients, but they exaggerate small efficiency advantages into nearly guaranteed transaction success, causing investors to overestimate their actual effect.
Scams Target Those Who “Know a Bit More”
Whether it’s the “dedicated trading seat” mentioned in Honghu Fund’s statement or the “VIP channel for grabbing limit-ups” circulating in the market, these pitches are aimed at:
Not complete beginners, but individual investors who have some knowledge of trading rules but haven’t mastered the details.
Such investors often seek a “trading advantage” and are more easily drawn in by semi-professional terms like “knock-on mechanism” or “independent seat ranking,” mistakenly believing that accessing a certain channel will give them a winning edge in extreme market conditions.
What often happens is: some platforms impersonating reputable private equity firms exploit these cognitive habits, weaving together real technical details with fictional service promises, creating an illusion of “you’re only lacking one channel,” and precisely target the group who believe they “know the market better than ordinary retail investors.”
When the “Scammer” Speaks “Professional”
In the past, scammers operated under the names of reputable firms, relying on promises of high returns and emotional manipulation to harvest investors; now, they’ve begun leveraging professional mechanisms and “selling” them, with the target shifting from those with poor access to information to those who believe they “know the rules a bit.”
This marks the entry of financial scams into the “cognitive war” stage.
When scammers don a professional guise, the real defense is no longer being wary of flashy product sales, but remaining vigilant about “seemingly professional” pitches.
Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market carries risk; investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it consider the unique investment goals, financial situations, or needs of individual users. Users should assess whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article suit their circumstances. You invest based on this at your own risk.
