Will the bank permanently freeze some deposit accounts? This kind of fake news has tricks!, Rumors started in September | Bank | Account
Recently, the Shanghai debunking platform received a message hoping to verify the authenticity of the online rumor that "starting from September, banks will permanently freeze some deposit accounts.". After verification, all relevant statements are false.
There was similar news in March, but industry insiders said it was "fake at first glance"
According to a search conducted by the Shanghai debunking platform, since March this year, various news articles titled "Amazing Decision Making of Banks" and "Major Reform of Banks" have appeared online, all sourced from individual netizens or self media platforms named "* * Finance Talk" and "* * Technology". The content posted by these accounts is roughly the same, meaning "the bank has made a new decision to permanently freeze some deposit accounts."; The "effective time" is different, some are more vague, while others say it is "August", "September", etc.
However, neither the People's Bank of China nor various commercial banks have issued similar documents or notices.
Banking and legal professionals have clearly pointed out that the statement that "banks will permanently freeze some deposit accounts" is "false at first glance" and similar policies, documents, or internal information cannot appear. Because according to laws and regulations such as the People's Bank of China Law and the Commercial Bank Law of the People's Republic of China, banks must protect the interests of depositors. The third chapter of the Commercial Bank Law is "Protection of Depositors", and the first article clearly states that "Commercial banks handling personal savings deposit business shall follow the principles of voluntary deposit, free withdrawal, interest bearing deposit, and confidentiality for depositors. For personal savings deposits, commercial banks have the right to refuse any unit or individual to inquire, freeze, or deduct, except as otherwise provided by law."
Industry insiders point out that any bank issuing documents will not violate the above laws and regulations. As for the situation of bank account freezing that occurs in real life, there are reasons for it. For example, some accounts are suspected of illegal activities such as fraud, money laundering, smuggling, etc; Some account subjects are involved in legal disputes or judicial proceedings. However, both the reason for freezing and the freezing process have legal basis.
For example, when searching on the website of the People's Bank of China using the keyword "freeze", it can be seen that a considerable part of the frozen accounts of banks are related to combating crime, such as the "Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Bank of China on Establishing an Emergency Stop Payment and Rapid Freeze Mechanism for New Illegal and Criminal Accounts Involving Telecommunications Networks" and the "Measures for the Administration of Freezing Assets Involving Terrorist Activities".
When freezing, different situations have different legal procedures. For example, Article 1 of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Seizure, Seizure, and Freezing of Property in Civil Execution by People's Courts" clearly states that "when the people's court seizures, seizures, or freezes the movable, immovable, and other property rights of the debtor, it shall make a ruling and serve it on the debtor and the applicant for execution."
It can be seen that there is no major decision for banks to permanently freeze some deposit accounts, nor is there a situation where accounts are frozen based solely on a single announcement or so-called internal documents.
There are tricks to large-scale counterfeiting
The Shanghai debunking platform also found through browsing related rumors that the "bank account freeze" is likely a deliberate fabrication of rumors by the "network water army" gang company, in order to profit from traffic.
Firstly, several rumors have used keywords such as "amazing", "major reforms", "the good days are coming to an end", and "let's see if we have you" in their headlines. However, there is no content in the text that involves "policies issued by banks", all of which are "headline party", in line with the fraudulent tactics of the "online water army" gang companies.
Secondly, these rumors have rough language and contradictory content. Some articles are filled with various spoken vocabulary, with chaotic logic, different from the rigorous writing style of professional institutions; There are also inconsistencies in the content, such as the article stating at the beginning that "the specific details of this decision are still to be announced," but later stating that "according to the latest announcement from the bank... it will affect the following three types of depositors.". The above writing style is very similar to the result disclosed by the public security department that the "Internet Water Army" gang companies hire members with low education to fabricate.
Finally, some accounts, in order to highlight their professionalism, have piled up a large amount of seemingly professional financial knowledge and used photos of financial institution personnel when interpreting seemingly empty policies. However, the relevant content and photos have no relation to the article, and the photos used are also suspected of infringement.
In fact, the large-scale falsification of "online water army" gang companies has become an important driver of online rumors. At a press conference held by the Ministry of Public Security on July 21st, it was reported that there are three ways in which "Internet Water Army" gang companies engage in fraud: firstly, some "Internet Water Army" gang companies operate in a corporate manner, operate a large number of self media accounts, and attract attention and profit by fabricating and publishing various false articles and videos in bulk; The second is that some "online water army" groups fabricate and spread false information in hot public opinion events, "riding on hot topics" to harvest traffic, and even "creating hot topics" to coerce public opinion and mislead the public; The third is that some illegal elements set up fake media websites and self media accounts, using the banner of "public opinion supervision" to fabricate and hype up false negative information, and carry out extortion.
It can be seen that the public must be cautious about the complex information online and not trust various self media, as they may be profit-making tools for criminals. Especially when facing policy information posted by self media or individual netizens, it is necessary to compare and verify it through official institutions. This can not only avoid being misled, but also avoid becoming a rumormonger due to comments and rumors being shared, benefiting the "online water army".
