China News Weekly reporter / Zhou Qunfeng
Published in the 1055th issue of "China News Weekly" magazine in 2022.8.8
"Fill for repair, if unsuccessful, refund", when a person is distressed by the bad record in the credit report, he is often attracted by this type of advertisement.
The credit report is issued by the Credit Information Center of the People's Bank of China, which can reflect the basic situation of an individual or enterprise's social credit. If there is a bad record in it, it will have an impact on the enterprise or individual in many aspects, such as loans, credit card applications, education and employment, and travel. .
The importance of the credit report has made some lawbreakers use their brains.
In recent years, scams under the banner of "credit repair" have emerged in many places across the country.
In multiple cases, scammers claim to help others repair bad credit records, but after they succeed, they block customers and disappear.
Some even set up training courses to train "credit repairers" for a fee, forming a gray industry chain that integrates recruiting "credit repairers", training, joining agents, and selling personal information.
The chaos of "credit information repair" disrupted the order of the credit information market, and also caused economic losses to victims, and risks such as malicious use, leakage, and trading of personal information.
In the relevant regulations and documents, the concept of "credit investigation restoration" is not mentioned.
On August 1 this year, a staff member of the Credit Information Center of the People's Bank of China told "China News Weekly" that there is no "repair" in the credit reports of individuals or companies, and there is no "credit repair" in the field of credit reporting. The concept of the credit report is that the information in the credit report is submitted by the relevant credit institutions (for example, if a person has done business in the Agricultural Bank of China, the content of the credit report will be submitted by the Agricultural Bank of China). How to show.
"Any business activity in the name of credit repair is a scam."
Block customers after successful scam
The development of China's credit reporting industry has been 90 years since the birth of the first credit reporting agency, the "China Credit Information Institute", in 1932.
According to the official website of the Credit Information Center of the People's Bank of China, China's current credit information system has become the world's largest credit information database with the largest number of people included, comprehensive information collection, coverage and extensive use. Active businesses and individuals establish credit profiles.
Behind the gradual improvement of the credit reporting system and the continuous improvement of social credit awareness, "credit reporting repair" scams have emerged one after another.
"China News Weekly" can retrieve a large number of judicial documents by entering "Credit Information Repair" on the China Judgment Documents Online.
For example, on June 8, 2021, a criminal judgment issued by the Intermediate People's Court of Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province showed that Ang contacted Zhang Mouxue in order to restore his personal credit, and Zhang promised to restore his credit.
From May to August 2020, Ang transferred 35,000 yuan to Zhang's account in four installments. After Zhang got the money, he lied that the repair had been successful, and then blocked Ang's contact information. its splurge.
After Zhang Xue said that the credit report had been repaired, Ang went to the Xining City People's Bank system to inquire about the personal credit report, and found that it had not been repaired.
Afterwards, he called Zhang several times but couldn't get through, and found that he had been blocked.
Zhang Mouxue confessed: "I knew that I couldn't fix it, so I went to the doctor in a hurry. I found an advertisement for repairing credit information through Momo's mobile phone software and contacted the other party. Later, this person blocked me from Momo."
After the incident, Zhang Mouxue voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, and signed a recognizance.
He was sentenced to one year and one month in prison for the crime of fraud and fined 7,000 yuan.
It is not uncommon for some cases of telecom fraud under the banner of helping others to "repair credit".
On July 25, Ms. Li, a citizen of Chenzhou, Hunan Province, came to the Chenzhou branch of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and presented a banner with the words "Anti-fraud publicity warms people's hearts and customers recognize scams" to Liu Yingjie, the financial manager of the bank's sales department.
Liu Yingjie told China News Weekly that she was Li's exclusive wealth management manager at Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. A few days ago, Li received an unfamiliar call. The other party claimed to be a staff member of a financial supervision platform.
The phone said that through Li's Jingdong white strip, there was a problem with Li's credit report, and Li needed to follow the prompts to repair it, otherwise it would affect the children's studies and other problems.
The "staff" also warned Li that the operation process of the relevant "credit information repair" should not be known to third parties, otherwise personal information would be leaked, and some losses caused would be borne by Li himself.
Li was very flustered after hearing this. The "staff" claimed that if Li followed his actions, he could improve his credit score and complete the repair.
Immediately, the "staff" guided Li to take a loan of 150,000 yuan on Weibo, and guided her to close the Weibo repayment interface to prepare for subsequent fraud.
Ms. Li did not realize she was being cheated at this time, but was confused, so she called Liu Yingjie to inquire about the microcredit interface.
After hearing this, Liu Yingjie decided that it was a scam in the name of credit investigation and repair, and immediately asked Li to stop all operations and called the police for her.
The police investigation confirmed that this was a telecommunication fraud case.
Fraudsters pretended to be staff members of relevant departments, took advantage of Ms. Li's psychological weakness in her eagerness to repair her credit information, and guided her to close the micro-loan repayment portal and anti-fraud monitoring functions after applying for a loan, falling into a trap step by step.
Liu Yingjie told China News Weekly that she learned that Ms. Li did not have credit problems.
In recent years, with the gradual attention paid to credit reporting, there have been various false propaganda and fraud routines under the banner of credit reporting repair on the Internet, with the ultimate goal of defrauding personal information and funds.
Compared with Ms. Li's timely detection of the scam through bank staff, Ms. Wang, a citizen of Haikou, was not so lucky.
According to the Nanguo Metropolis Daily, on May 29, Ms. Wang received a strange call. The other party claimed to be an Alipay staff member, saying that Wang had a credit risk due to his usual bank loans, and she needed to immediately contact the banking supervision department to reduce and eliminate personal credit investigation. Bad records in .
The caller also guided her through the DingTalk software to add a man who claimed to be from the "China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission" and initiate a video call.
The man was formally dressed, and he also showed his personal name, job number, etc., and his speech was professional. He could tell when, where, and in what name Wang had applied for a loan, which made Wang believe him.
At the man's prompt, Wang's e-mail received a screenshot of the webpage.
The most conspicuous part of the interface is marked with "Credit Information Center of the People's Bank of China". Except for some personal information of Ms. Wang, the value displayed in the column of "Credit Information Safety Factor" is 56.8%.
The man told her that if the value fell below 50 percent, his personal credit would be blacklisted in the financial system.
Since then, under her inducement, Ms. Wang successively transferred 380,000 yuan to 6 strangers' accounts.
After that, the man asked Wang to wait for a reply from the bank to "reduce credit risk".
Ms. Wang said that after the man in the video asked her to wait 10 minutes, she would receive a response from the bank.
But she waited 20 minutes without receiving a call. After she contacted the man, she found that she had been blocked.
She called the first caller who claimed to be Alipay, and found that she could not get through. Only then did she realize that she had been deceived and then called the police.
According to the Regulations on the Administration of Credit Reporting Industry, credit reporting agencies shall take reasonable measures to ensure the accuracy of the information they provide. Neither credit reporting agencies nor commercial banks and other information providers have the right to change or delete the correct information in the credit report at will. Displayed credit information.
On June 13, the Credit Information Management Office of the Business Management Department of the People's Bank of China published the article ""Credit Information Repair" is a Scam, Legally Protecting Rights Is the Right Way", claiming that the social claim that personal credit information can be repaired is false propaganda, and its essence is to use The public is eager to delete bad credit records. On the grounds that they promise to delete bad information, they lose contact after charging high service fees. Not only can they not delete bad credit records that are displayed correctly, but they will also cause certain economic losses.
From teaching to cheating, it has become a "black industry chain"
At present, on some online platforms, it is not uncommon for some companies to solicit business under the gimmick of "credit information repair".
Even in the industrial and commercial information, many companies include personal credit repair services, corporate credit management consulting services, etc. in their business scope.
On August 2, "China News Weekly" inquired about the data of Tianyancha and showed that there were as many as 8,991 existing companies whose business scope involved "credit investigation repair".
The reporter contacted a number of credit reporting companies in the name of customers. They said that after the company charges, it helps customers repair the credit by applying for objections to some banks.
For example, a staff member of a credit investigation repair agency in Chongqing told China News Weekly that they can still repair individual credit investigations, and the repair standard is 1,000-1,500 yuan per item.
The staff member said that their "method" to fix it is to allow customers to provide personal credit reports, relevant contracts, repayment flow and other information, and then help customers to file credit objection appeals.
When talking about whether this kind of business is illegal, she said, "We are completely legal and compliant, and professional people do professional things, just like when someone seeks help from a professional lending institution for a smooth loan."
It can be seen that the essence of this "credit investigation repair" is to appeal against the credit investigation.
A person familiar with the matter said that in the process of appealing, in order to improve the success rate, such companies often force financial institutions or data institutions to make concessions through malicious complaints and other means.
To deal with this kind of behavior, the national level has already expressed its position to strictly investigate.
In February 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice stating that some lawbreakers used some information subjects to be eager to eliminate bad credit records, confusing the concepts of credit reporting objections and credit restoration, and using "credit reporting restoration, whitewashing, and shoveling" and "credit reporting". In the name of “trust objection, complaint, consultation, and agency”, they defraud, threaten the property safety of the people, and seriously disrupt the overall situation of the construction of the social credit system, and must be strictly investigated and punished.
When dealing with such malicious complaints, some agencies said they could not be bothered.
The Guangzhou Green Network Environmental Protection Service Center (referred to as Green Network) is a non-profit environmental protection organization dedicated to pollution prevention and control. Xiang Chun, director of the center, told China News Weekly that the center has passed some official notifications and public judicial documents, etc. An environmental database has been established and provided to some credit bureaus.
He said that many banks now include the bad environmental records of enterprises as risk control indicators, and some related enterprises will be affected when lending and bidding.
Therefore, some companies involved and some market intermediaries operating credit investigation and repair business will find the green net and request to delete the data.
Xiang Chun said that in the past, when some companies approached the green network for negotiation, 90% of them would understand that they were only questioning the purpose of a social organization to collect and organize the data. Say no more.
"This year, the number of intermediaries who come to Greennet to delete information has doubled. They are entrusted by some companies to get the so-called deletion fee, and when they negotiate with us, their tone is very tough. All kinds of malicious complaints online.”
According to Xiang Chun, in recent years, the epidemic has had an impact on the operating conditions of many companies, but these intermediaries have taken advantage of the cognitive blind spots of the companies to develop their businesses.
They usually take the initiative to solicit business. After seeing which company has generated bad environmental data due to relevant criminal proceedings or environmental penalties, they will contact them and express how much negative impact the company will have due to these data, and then they can charge to help them delete it. .
On July 23, China Court Network published the article "How Can "Credit Information Repair" Become a Business?" The comment stated that there are some organizations in the society that solicit business in the name of "credit investigation repair" and "credit investigation whitewashing". And individuals, they advertise that bad information can be deleted from credit reports, and even openly hold training classes to "lecture."
In fact, the so-called "credit repair" and "credit whitewashing" are not only scams, but also hide other risks.
Those so-called "credit repair courses" are actually malicious complaints by privately engraving fake seals, forging false materials, etc., in an attempt to achieve the purpose of repairing credit reports.
"China News Weekly" found that at present, on some online platforms, notices for the recruitment of "credit repairers" can still be found.
In August 2020, a message posted by Xinxiang Juyin Credit Management Co., Ltd. showed that the company recruited "credit repairers" with a salary of 8,000 yuan and above (basic salary + performance + commission), and the educational requirements were high school or above. , the work content is responsible for receiving customers who are handed over by credit consultants, completing the task of telephone return visits assigned by the system every day, repairing customer credit reports through technology, and inviting and receiving customers for door-to-door inspections, etc.
According to Tianyancha, the company was cancelled on May 12 this year.
"Economic Daily" once reported that there is an "advertising" in a WeChat group claiming that for 19,800 yuan, you can get a "brand class" on "how to repair credit information".
After the students "class", they can not only "clean up" their credit records, but also make money by "credit repair" in the future.
The person in charge of a credit investigation repair company located in Yichang, Hubei told the media, "The company is recruiting agents. The franchise fee is divided into three levels: 9,800 yuan, 39,800 yuan, and 59,800 yuan. Only one agent is recruited for each city. The agent can decide how much to charge for the letter. In Yichang, we charge 1,500 yuan for repairing an overdue credit report.”
On April 21, 2021, a judgment issued by the Jinshui District People's Court of Zhengzhou City showed that Li Mouyang often posted successful cases of "credit investigation repair" in the circle of friends, and Song Mou and Wang Moumou wanted to learn this from Li. technology.
Li Mouyang told them that a bank charges 4,000 yuan within 6 lines, and the company (Henan Zhonghe Credit Information Service Co., Ltd., established by Zhao Mouchen and others, has been cancelled) can do 90% of the credit repair problems for untrustworthy people. Succeed, and through formal, legal channels.
Li Mouyang and Song Wang finally set a training fee of 18,888 yuan, pay 10,000 yuan first, and then pay the rest after learning.
After paying the tuition fees, when Song and Wang went to Zhonghe Credit Information for training, they found out how the credit information repair technique taught by the company had fabricated reasons to deceive the bank.
When the company committed the fraud, Zhao Mouchen and Li Mouyang had a clear division of labor, Li Mouyang was responsible for collecting customers for fees, and Zhao Mouchen was responsible for teaching and training.
Zhao Mouchen confessed that the company’s publicity was to use a reasonable and legal way to help customers repair credit information. Hospital records, etc.
The company charges fees first and then conducts training. There are three levels of franchise fee: 19,800 yuan, 59,800 yuan, and 180,000 yuan.
In the end, Zhao Mouchen and Li Mouyang were both sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for one year, for the crime of fraud.
According to Article 5 of the Measures for the Administration of Credit Reporting Agencies, the establishment of an individual credit reporting agency shall be approved by the People's Bank of China.
According to Article 24 of the "Administrative Measures for the Recordation of Enterprise Credit Information Institutions", no organization may engage in enterprise credit information business by joining, acting as an agent, or affiliating.
There are still real problems in the fight
Many respondents said that if companies or individuals have doubts about the content of the credit report, they can solve them through legal channels, and the relevant channels are relatively transparent.
On January 21, 2013, the State Council promulgated the "Regulations on the Administration of the Credit Information Industry", which stipulates: "If the information subject believes that there are errors or omissions in the information collected, stored or provided by the credit reporting agency, they have the right to file a complaint with the credit reporting agency or information provider. Dissent and ask for correction."
A staff member of the Credit Information Center of the People's Bank of China told China News Weekly that if (enterprises or individuals) have objections to overdue reports in the report, there are two ways to file objection applications: First, contact the credit institution yourself, if you meet the If the institution deletes the conditions, the institution can delete it. After the credit center receives the data, it will usually be updated the next day; secondly, bring the original and photocopy of the ID card to the credit center of the local People's Bank, and submit the information in question in the report. For objection applications, the Credit Information Center will forward the objections to the relevant institutions after receiving them, and urge the institutions to verify and handle them. Generally, a reply will be given within 20 natural days, and the specific results should be subject to the verification results of the institutions.
There is no charge for the acceptance of credit objection.
It is worth noting that bad information is not recorded for life.
According to Article 16 of the Regulations on the Administration of Credit Information Industry, the retention period of personal bad information by credit reporting agencies is 5 years from the date of termination of the bad behavior or event; if it exceeds 5 years, it shall be deleted.
During the storage period of bad information, the subject of the information can explain the bad information, and the credit reporting agency shall record it.
Since the beginning of this year, the rectification of the chaos of "credit investigation and repair" at the national level has continued one after another.
On March 16, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Notice on Focusing on Special Governance of "Credit Information Repair", stating that the targets of governance are mainly swindling and cheating under the guise of "credit investigation repair" and "credit investigation whitewashing". A market entity that seriously disrupts the market order by defrauding money or personal information by means of false propaganda, instigating unreasonable complaints, falsifying materials, and malicious complaints.
The central bank also issued the "Notice on Carrying out the "Hundred-Day Action" for the Special Treatment of "Credit Information Repair" Chaos," which requires that this work be carried out nationwide from mid-March to late June 2022.
Recently, the results of this operation have been reported in many places.
Up to now, branches at all levels in Hebei Province have investigated a total of 323 enterprises with the words "credit investigation", instructed 220 enterprises suspected of engaging in "credit investigation and repair" business to complete rectification, and cleaned up 8 illegal "credit investigation and repair" advertisements, 61 One company completed the change of industrial and commercial information, 33 companies were cancelled, 31 companies were included in the list of abnormal business operations, and 112 companies were transferred to the market supervision department for investigation and punishment.
On July 28, Liu Aihua, deputy director of the Credit Information Management Department of the Wuhan Branch of the People's Bank of China, introduced at a press briefing that as of mid-July, Hubei Province had promoted the handling of 731 enterprises and institutions with the word "credit information", among which had changed their names or business operations. There are 319 companies in the scope, 93 companies have been cancelled, and 319 companies have been included in the list of abnormal operations; 14 cities and states have been cleared.
In Hubei, there are no institutions that actually engage in and publicize the business of "credit investigation repair".
Some industry insiders interviewed said that in recent years, relevant departments have been cracking down on the "credit repair" scam, but there are still cases that continue to appear. The amount of money involved in such scams is often not high, and the police do not pay enough attention.
The person in charge of a credit reporting agency in Beijing told China News Weekly that when cracking down on some welfare lottery scams and abduction cases, multi-departmental joint actions often take place, while the "credit reporting repair" scam does not do enough in joint action among departments. The strength is relatively lacking.
In addition, the amount of money involved in such cases is often small, coupled with the fact that the fraudsters are very secretive and difficult to detect, resulting in the lack of subjective willingness of relevant departments to crack down.
Zhao Zhanzhan, a special researcher at the Intellectual Property Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said in an interview with the media that if the credit repair company uses illegal means, such as collusion with the bank's internal staff, to raise false objections and the bank repairs it, it is an illegal act.
He said that if it is legal civil agency, it is not illegal to file an objection and complaint in accordance with the "Regulations on the Administration of the Credit Information Industry", but if the entrusted entity does not have the qualifications for the credit reporting business, it is not illegal to repair the credit report, clean up the credit report, and shovel the overdue. Those who conduct false propaganda under the guise of Shan and others, and make illegal complaints by forging bank records, tampering with information, fabricating force majeure events, etc., will not only face civil liability and administrative penalties, but may also be charged with crimes such as "fraud" in the criminal law and bear criminal responsibility. .
Liu Xingcheng, a partner of Beijing Zhongyong Law Firm and a financial lawyer, told China News Weekly that "credit repair" or "credit laundering" scams will lead to "bad money driving out good money", which will make the financial market Loss of credit will cause information distortion in the financial market, and even create a "black swan" in the financial market. Therefore, it should be cracked down in accordance with the law.
"China News Weekly" Issue 29, 2022
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