【Ping An Executives on Consumer Protection】Creating a Clear Financial Network, Safeguarding Customer Rights, Ping An Bank Firmly Cracks Down on "Black Intermediary" Financial Irregularities

Sun Fangtao

Member of the Party Committee of Ping An Bank, Assistant President

and Chief Information Officer

In recent years, illegal anti-collection activities, malicious debt evasion, and illegal loan brokerage in the financial sector have been spreading rapidly. These “black and gray” industries have become major hidden dangers that disrupt the financial market order and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of the people. They not only directly harm financial consumers’ property safety, leading to risks such as property loss and personal information leaks, but also seriously damage banking operations, weaken the effectiveness of financial services to the real economy, and pose a significant threat to financial security.

To implement the directives of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on the governance of “black and gray” industries in the financial sector, Ping An Bank has earnestly fulfilled its primary responsibility for protecting consumer rights, strengthened planning and deployment, and concentrated resources. Through multi-dimensional efforts such as police-bank cooperation, technological empowerment, and education and publicity, significant progress has been made in cracking down on “black and gray” industries, creating a clean financial network, and safeguarding secure consumption.

Police-Bank Cooperation, Joint Prevention and Control

Promoting Criminal Filing Cases

Case 1:

Public security authorities lawfully filed a case against Sun Moumou and four others suspected of fraud. Investigation revealed that after seeing black industry advertisements online, the clients signed “Debt Suspension and Optimization Contracts” with black industry companies and paid various fees, ranging from 5% to 10%. Subsequently, the black industry companies impersonated clients to negotiate repayment with financial institutions, repeatedly maliciously complained to the institutions, forged hardship certificates from village committees and major illness certificates to force the institutions to reschedule or extend repayment. Currently, police have arrested suspects including Sun Moumou, and the case is under further investigation.

Case 2:

Public security authorities lawfully filed a case against Zhang Moumou suspected of fraud. Investigation showed that since May last year, Ping An Bank’s branch discovered anomalies in the return status of a customer’s vehicle registration. The customer repeatedly pressured the bank to cancel the loan, claiming they had not received the loan funds, the vehicle, or that the loan process was irregular. Further investigation revealed that the dispute was not just a simple car purchase issue but involved a second-hand car leasing contract signed with a car dealer. The dealer had hired multiple “professional debtors” who used false purchase intentions to apply for car loans from multiple banks, engaging in financial fraud. The police have arrested Zhang Moumou, and the case is ongoing.

Case 3:

Public security authorities lawfully filed a case against Song Moumou and others suspected of extortion. Investigation showed that suspect Song Moumou had worked in debt collection and signed “cooperation agreements” with credit card debtors, deliberately guiding and setting traps for illegal collection operations, frequently filing malicious complaints with financial regulators, and pressuring banks and collection agencies to reduce interest and fees or claim additional compensation, amounting to over 100,000 yuan in extorted funds. Currently, police have arrested Song Moumou, and the case is under further investigation.

Since last year, Ping An Bank has removed 106,000 pieces of “black and gray” content from social media through its “Net Clean-up Action,” initiated 12 administrative cases, received 94 reports, issued 137 warnings, reported 1 case to the industry and commerce bureau, filed 24 criminal cases—including 12 for malicious debt evasion, 10 for illegal loan brokerage, and 2 for improper anti-collection activities—with a total involved amount of 29.57 million yuan. These efforts have effectively protected the legitimate rights of financial consumers and created a strong deterrent against “black and gray” industries.

Mechanism-led, Technology-powered

The Effectiveness of the “Anti-Black” Combined Approach

Ping An Bank has established a dedicated task force at the head office to combat “black and gray” industries in finance, building four core modules: clue identification, evidence collection, case filing and judgment, and publicity and education. The focus is on investigating clues related to illegal anti-collection, malicious debt evasion, and illegal loan brokerage, using methods such as police reports, industry reports, and judicial disclosures for targeted crackdowns.

Coordination and Collaboration:

• Establishing good communication mechanisms with public security agencies, industry associations, and peer institutions to share “black and gray” clues and improve enforcement efficiency.
• Actively assisting police by providing key evidence such as customer account information, collection records, and communication recordings to support case investigations.
• Inviting financial crime investigation experts to conduct specialized seminars on “black and gray” industry governance, analyzing methods of criminal activity, and sharing clues and evidence collection techniques to enhance the bank’s professional capabilities in criminal enforcement.

Technological Empowerment:

• Continuously enhancing technological capabilities, iterating voiceprint recognition and big data models, and adding new technologies such as DeepSeek speech analysis and OCR for stamp recognition to quickly locate clues and identify false documents.
• Achieving precise identification, real-time monitoring, and efficient suppression of “black and gray” activities.
• Future plans include using knowledge graphs to identify “black and gray” gangs, building a comprehensive clues and evidence collection platform, and establishing a bank-wide “black and gray” database for information sharing, helping to create a clean and secure financial environment and firmly safeguarding financial justice.

Education and Publicity:

• Producing a microfilm titled “Financial Anti-Black Undercover,” which uses a “sting operation” style to immerse consumers in the process of black industry creating fake online ads, deceiving debtors, forging false evidence, and finally being caught by police.
• Planning offline activities such as “Financial Legal Knowledge Training Camp” and “Black Industry Challenge,” using interactive scenarios to enhance consumers’ awareness of “black and gray” risks.
• Collaborating with China Legal Publishing House and cartoonist Si Ge Xiao Jin to publish nationwide books like “Three-Minute Comic Financial Knowledge” and “Three-Minute Comic Telecom and Internet Fraud Prevention,” using engaging formats to reveal the dangers of “black and gray” industries and calling for joint efforts to build a safer online environment.

Ping An Bank reminds financial consumers: The essence of “black and gray” industries is illegal organizations and individuals disguising as “professional intermediaries” to deceive consumers and seek illegal profits. They use fabricated facts, forged materials, threats, and complaints to block effective communication between consumers and financial institutions, aiming to extort high fees, intercept funds, or incite consumers to buy illegal investment products or participate in illegal fundraising. Consumers should be vigilant against scams such as “agency rights protection,” “credit repair,” and “debt reduction,” and resolve financial disputes rationally. Do not trust illegal intermediaries, and be cautious to prevent personal information leaks and property losses.

Proofread by: Yang Xu

Edited by: Liu Xin