To avoid more people being deceived, Huang Yifeng, a senior at Shenzhen University, decided to come forward and publicly expose this "professional scammer."
Written by: Colin Wu, Wu Says Blockchain
This article is an interview conducted by Colin, the editor-in-chief of Wu Says Blockchain, with Huang Yifeng, a senior at Shenzhen University, on October 12.
Zhang Yufeng has been referred to by the media as "Little Pony Ma." Several authoritative media outlets reported that he donated 50 million to Shenzhen University just a year after graduation. However, it was later revealed that his resume was largely fabricated; in reality, he did not make any donations, did not graduate normally, was in debt from online loans, and even forged an identity as an FTX employee.
Even more astonishing is that after deceiving alumni into trusting him with the fake donation, Zhang Yufeng has frequently solicited money from acquaintances over the past year under the guise of investing in "projects," failing to return the money on time after the agreed period. As a result, several victims have even reported him to the police. To prevent more people from being deceived, Huang Yifeng, a senior at Shenzhen University, decided to stand up and publicly expose this "professional scammer."
Huang Yifeng stated that Zhang Yufeng claimed to have some cryptocurrency projects that could double investments within a few months. After friends invested, Zhang Yufeng began to default on repayments, coming up with many absurd excuses, such as being hospitalized in Hong Kong. After several victims reported him to the police, Zhang Yufeng's parents, who run a printing factory in Dongguan, helped repay part of the debts. Zhang Yufeng's rental at Shenzhen Bay No. 1 was warned due to unpaid rent. He even defaulted on an online loan of 6,000 yuan.
Background Information:
The following content is a summary. For the full interview and more details, please follow and listen to the Wu Says podcast:
Listen on Xiaoyuzhou: https://www.xiaoyuzhoufm.com/episode/670a8bc2db2cf82757b86a30
Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PrEThWwCFRw
Interview Summary:
Huang Yifeng: Let me first introduce my background. I am from the 2017 class of Shenzhen University, and I consider myself a senior to Zhang Yufeng (who enrolled in 2018). I met Zhang Yufeng in 2021 when I was starting a business, and by chance, he added me on WeChat due to some entrepreneurial subsidies.
From 2021 to 2024, we kept chatting. He often shared impressive things on his social media, such as receiving an offer from Sequoia and taking photos with FTX founder SBF. He even claimed to have become a limited partner at Sequoia, donating tens of millions to them. He also (claimed to) have bought a Ferrari. Since early 2022, he has been creating a very impressive image for himself.
To be fair, I considered him a close acquaintance, and given his background of donating 50 million to Shenzhen University, I was willing to lend him a significant amount of money without a contract, which was the situation.
At the end of 2023, I officially learned about or entered the cryptocurrency industry, and I reached out to Zhang Yufeng to chat, continuously exchanging ideas. Around May this year, he told me he had some projects with great returns and asked me to invest 1 million, promising that it could multiply several times within a quarter, turning into several million, and that he would eventually return the money to me, which I could use to improve my life or as a foundational fund for market making.
I gave him a total of about 840,000 in early May, around the Labor Day holiday.
Colin: When did you realize something was wrong and ask him to return the money?
Huang Yifeng: Our normal agreement was to return the money within a quarter. At the beginning of May, we agreed that he would return the money to me before July 25. He promised me that this money could not possibly lose; if it did, he would return the principal.
Colin: Why did you trust him so much, even without a contract?
Huang Yifeng: From 2022 to 2024, we were quite familiar with each other and often chatted, and I never expected he would only deceive acquaintances; secondly, we are both alumni of Shenzhen University; thirdly, he donated 50 million to Shenzhen University, which I thought could not be fake. Basically, all the victims' situations are similar to mine, due to these three reasons.
I have read Wu Says' report more than five times. When I sent him money in May, I went back and read that report again, but I still chose to trust him. I thought, a scammer couldn't possibly deceive for so long, right? He had been deceiving me since 2022. His information, identity, and background were all coherent. I saw many negative news, but I didn't believe it at the time.
Colin: When did you start to have doubts?
Huang Yifeng: It was when he delayed the repayment of the principal. We initially agreed on July 25, and he proactively suggested that due to the poor market conditions, he would delay it to August 20. In mid-July, a childhood friend of his tweeted, and gradually, many victims contacted that key person, and I learned the truth of the matter.
I know of about ten victims like me, and the timeline started from September 2023, with known amounts exceeding 3 million. From what I know, most of the principal has been returned to most people, but at least 200,000 remains unpaid because this person has been persistently pursuing it.
In fact, someone has already reported him to the police. At that time, there was a debt of about 1 million that Zhang Yufeng owed to a university classmate, and that person reported him, leading the police to his home, where Zhang Yufeng's family repaid that 1 million. Some victims are his childhood friends, people he has known since high school, who went on graduation trips together. His family indeed runs a printing factory.
Colin: How does Zhang Yufeng create his personal image?
Huang Yifeng: He is a professional scammer. From 2022 to now, he has been building this persona of being very wealthy, showing things like his Stanford admission proof and his OKX account with tens of millions of USDT.
I believe his delusions are undeniable. He even claimed to have met Elon Musk and to be one of Tesla's top ten shareholders.
I visited his home at Shenzhen Bay No. 1. Initially, he told me it was purchased, but later I found out it was rented, and ultimately discovered he was behind on rent and had received warnings.
Before and after his donation in 2023, he was already in debt from online loans, just 6,000 yuan. He filled in the phone number of a childhood friend as his emergency contact, and the loan company called that friend.
I believe Shenzhen University was also deceived (by the fake donation). Before the donation, the dean of his college had invited Zhang Yufeng to give some speeches, talking about the path to financial freedom and how to get a Sequoia offer.
Colin: Why do you want to expose him?
Huang Yifeng: If I don't expose him, more people will definitely be deceived. There were actually many small episodes in between, such as him asking me to go to Hong Kong and then to Singapore, but he stood me up. When he couldn't repay the money, he claimed to have myocarditis and was hospitalized in Hong Kong, saying the medical examination cost 50,000 yuan and the hospitalization cost 100,000 yuan, and that his private jet was canceled, resulting in a 100,000 yuan deposit being forfeited. His father had myocarditis and was in the ICU. His mother also fell ill, providing various excuses to delay.
He is originally from Meizhou but is from Dongguan. He only deceives people around him, only the closest acquaintances. It's really too exaggerated. Some of his internships were purchased, and some may have been fabricated. There are still transfer records for at least two purchased internships.
According to friends, at least two groups of people have approached his parents for money. His father does not want to repay, believing that his son’s ability to scam money is his own skill, and he just wants to be left alone. His father has that mindset, while his mother is somewhat kinder and has gradually repaid the money over the year.
Colin: This situation is not complicated. Zhang Yufeng may have some delusions, ran out of money, and when his family stopped giving him money, he sought excuses to borrow from those around him.
Huang Yifeng: I think so, but there are some very bad aspects in the process, such as only deceiving those close to him, which goes against human nature. I have always been curious about how many more people he deceived when he later started Knowledge Planet. The podcast he did with Xiaoyuzhou's Deribit employees also deceived many people.
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