Evolution of Scams: Billion-Dollar Private Equity and Foreign Insurance Giants Unexpectedly "Meet" in the Same Scheme

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In the field of financial fraud and forgery, there are always two unbreakable rules.

First, the more well-known and outstanding the institution, the more likely it is to be targeted by "imposters" (fraud gangs).

Second, the more exaggerated and miraculous the content, the more likely it is to be fake.

The underlying reason is simple: legitimate professional institutions usually disclose information cautiously, while forgers brazenly hype and exaggerate.

After a year-long bull market, at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, a batch of well-known asset management institutions actively issued risk warnings, reminding unsuspecting investors to be careful and not to be deceived.

The name of a famous domestic 10-billion private placement and an overseas insurance institution was unexpectedly targeted by the same group of fraudsters. They impersonated and created a new scam similar to “well-known hedge fund + foreign insurance giant” dual endorsement, and used some new technical tools to assist the fraud.

This, of course, deserves investors' vigilance.

A Different Anti-Fraud "Case"

On January 30, February 3, and February 4 of this year, the well-known domestic private equity firm Springs Capital issued three consecutive risk warning announcements, alerting investors to beware of criminals impersonating it for illegal activities:

Our company has noticed that criminals are impersonating Springs Capital and its employees on internet platforms or offline to conduct illegal stock recommendations, illegal fundraising, project investments, and other illicit securities activities, suspected of defrauding investors.

According to Zishitang, some investors, upon discovering suspected fraudulent platforms, proactively called Springs Capital for verification. The compliance department thus became aware of the illegal securities activities and issued three consecutive anti-fraud announcements on the same case within one week, continuously warning investors to avoid risks.

Although such announcements are not uncommon in the private fund industry, in the past few years, several hundred-billion private placements have issued similar statements:

For example: “Criminals are impersonating our company, fund managers, and other staff through WeChat, QQ, corporate WeChat, SMS, etc., actively forming groups, live streaming online, illegally recommending stocks, collecting investor information, organizing offline events, publishing false information, and conducting illegal fundraising.”

Another example: “Our company discovered that criminals are impersonating our company, founders, legal representatives, and employees via mobile apps (APP), websites, WeChat, and other means to conduct illegal stock recommendations, fundraising, etc., defrauding investor funds or information.”

But this time, the criminals had more ambitious plans.

What’s Different This Time?

Why is it different this time?

The difference is that this scam obviously involves more entities and more strategies.

The risk warning exposed the following points:

1. The criminals created a fake APP to enhance the deception. (Screenshot below.)

2. The APP is designed with many details: for example, the page uses the confusing institution English name "Springs Capital" (the English abbreviation of Springs Capital); the right side shows investor rewards and fund lists, with phrases like "daily yield 1%", "investment starting at 4,500 yuan", "invite friends, keep earning referral rewards", "check in to receive benefits", etc. Obviously, scammers created a fairly functional fake APP.

Analyzing these details reveals:

First, the scammers deliberately use English in the APP to create an illusion of "professionalism" and "internationalism".

Second, "daily yield of 1%" sounds modest, but calculated with compound interest, the annual yield approaches 37 times, far exceeding normal investment returns.

Third, "invite friends, keep earning referral rewards" is a typical acquaintance-based recruitment mechanism, aiming to rapidly spread the scam via social networks.

Additionally, the entire APP interface imitates the layout and color scheme of many legitimate financial institution apps, especially mimicking the page design of well-known wealth management platforms. This makes inexperienced users more likely to lower their guard and mistakenly believe they are using a genuine investment tool.

Insurance Company “Pieced Into” the Scam

Zishitang noticed: Springs Capital's announcement also publicly showed a full investment contract from the fake platform.

As shown below, not only is Springs Capital's name used, but another famous foreign institution—AXA Tianping Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd.—is also prominently listed as "Party C (guarantor)".

The contract involves three parties:

“Party A: Springs Capital Investment Management Co., Ltd.

Party B: Investor

Party C: AXA Tianping Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. (Guarantor)”

The following clauses state:

“Party A shall transfer principal and profits to Party B’s account within the specified return time.”

“The return time is not affected by statutory holidays.”

“All funds invested by Party B in the project are placed in a platform-designated third-party safe account, and the principal will be frozen until the project cycle ends.”

This further constructs a sense of professionalism and authenticity.

Terms Design Actually Violates Regulations

These descriptions seem rigorous but actually violate industry regulatory rules, specifically:

First, regulations prohibit private fund managers from promising capital protection or guaranteed returns to investors. Therefore, the claim of “timely and full return of principal and profits” in the fake APP is itself a fraudulent signal.

Second, the concept of a “platform safe account” does not exist in the legitimate financial system. Private fund money must be custodial with qualified banks or brokerages, not a vague internet platform-created account. This is pure fraud.

Third, noteworthy is the “Party C: AXA Tianping Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Ltd. (Guarantor)” clause.

AXA Tianping is a wholly foreign-owned property insurance firm, 100% held by France’s AXA Group, operating in Mainland China, mainly providing auto, accident, and liability insurance. In 2025, its premium income ranked 18th among property insurers in Mainland China.

Except for the contract's beginning, the scammers list this insurer as Party C, but the details of its guarantee role are not specified.

AXA Tianping Responds to Zishitang

AXA Tianping’s relevant personnel responded to Zishitang: their business scope does not include providing guarantees for fund investment principal or returns.

It is clear that having a property insurer “arranged” as a guarantor in such a contract is not a real cooperation, but a deliberate “borrowing” by the scammers to bolster the scam’s credibility.

In comparison, previous private placement impersonation cases mostly involved forming online groups for stock recommendations, forging fund manager identities, or building fake websites. Here, the scammers contrived a legal document with “private fund + insurance” dual endorsement, trying to make the whole scam look like it has a complete compliance chain.

In reality, there is no direct collaboration between private funds and property insurers.

The core of private funds is fiduciary asset management, earning performance-based remuneration through investment capability; the core of insurance companies is risk underwriting, relying on actuarial models and capital to fulfill claim obligations. The business logic of the two is entirely different.

A Trust Scam Forged by "International Feel"

For investors lacking risk awareness, seeing the names of two well-known financial institutions together in a contract can easily create the illusion that “this must be very safe.”

The special aspect of this scam is the scammers’ deliberate fabrication of “international feel”.

On one hand, only the English abbreviation of Springs Capital is used in the APP, avoiding the Chinese full name; on the other hand, AXA Tianping was chosen as the “guarantor”—its background is precisely a wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary of a French insurance giant.

Both institutions carry strong “international” labels, and together, create a false sense of authority.

This trust scam, disguised as “international feel,” is brazenly presented to investors.

But the more it looks like this, the more fake it is.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market is risky, investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the special investment objectives, financial status, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Invest accordingly at your own risk. ```