In order to prevent more people from being deceived, Huang Yifeng, Zhang Yufeng's senior at Shenzhen University, decided to stand up and expose this "professional liar" by his real name.

Written by: Colin Wu, Wu Talks Blockchain

This article is an interview conducted by Colin, editor-in-chief of Wu Blockchain, with Huang Yifeng, senior of Zhang Yufeng from Shenzhen University, on October 12.

Zhang Yufeng was called "Little Pony Ma" by the media, and many authoritative media reported that he donated 50 million to Shenzhen University one year after graduation. But then it was revealed that his resume was heavily falsified, and he actually did not donate, did not graduate normally, defaulted on online loans, and forged his identity as an FTX employee.

But what is even more surprising is that after Zhang Yufeng gained the trust of his alumni through fraudulent donations, he has frequently asked for money from his acquaintances in the name of investing in "plates" in the past year, and did not return the money on time after the stipulated time expired. For this reason, many victims even reported to the police. In order to prevent more people from being deceived, Huang Yifeng, Zhang Yufeng's senior at Shenzhen University, decided to stand up and expose this "professional liar" by his real name.

Huang Yifeng said that Zhang Yufeng claimed to have some cryptocurrency plates that could double in a few months. After the investment of his friends expired, Zhang Yufeng began to default and found many ridiculous excuses, such as being hospitalized in Hong Kong. After several victims called the police, Zhang Yufeng's parents, who ran a printing factory in Dongguan, helped repay part of the debt. Zhang Yufeng was warned for arrears in rent at Shenzhen Bay One. Zhang Yufeng even defaulted on an online loan of 6,000 yuan.

Background information:

1. The donor of the 50 million child prodigy of Shenzhen University is full of doubts. He is suspected of having delusions and claims to be the head of FTX trading, Stanford MBA, and CICC McKinsey internship

2. Personal introduction of the real-name whistleblower Huang Yifeng

The following is a summary. For the full interview and more details, please listen to the Wu Says Podcast:

Listen to Xiaoyuzhou: https://www.xiaoyuzhoufm.com/episode/670a8bc2db2cf82757b86a30

Youtube Listen: https://youtu.be/PrEThWwCFRw

The interview summary is as follows:

Huang Yifeng: Let me first talk about my background. I am from Shenzhen University, Class of 2017, and I am considered Zhang Yufeng's senior (Zhang Yufeng entered Shenzhen University in 2018). I met Zhang Yufeng in 2021, when I was starting a business. Then, by chance, he added me on WeChat because of some startup subsidies.

I kept chatting with him from 2021 to 2024. He would often share some impressive things on WeChat Moments, such as getting an offer from Sequoia and taking a photo with SBF, the founder of FTX. He even said that he was an LP of Sequoia and gave Sequoia tens of millions. He also (claimed to) bought a Ferrari. He has created a very impressive image for himself since the beginning of 2022.

To be fair, I am someone he knows very well, and considering my background of donating 50 million yuan to Shenzhen University, I would give a considerable sum of money to such a person without signing a contract. This is probably the situation.

At the end of 2023, I officially learned about or entered the cryptocurrency industry, and then I talked to Zhang Yufeng, and we kept communicating. Around May of this year, he said that he had some plates with very good returns, and asked me to give him 1 million, which might help me multiply it several times in a quarter, turning it into millions, and eventually return the money to me, and I can use it to improve my life, or to set up a basic fund for market makers.

I gave him a total of about 840,000 yuan around the beginning of May this year, around May Day.

Colin: When did you realize something was wrong and ask him to return the money?

Huang Yifeng: Our normal rule is to transfer the money to me once a quarter. At the beginning of May, we agreed that the money would be transferred back to me before July 25. He promised me at that time that it was impossible to lose the money anyway, and if it was lost, he would return the principal to me.

Colin: Why would you trust him so much, without even a contract?

Huang Yifeng: From 2002 to 2004, firstly, we were very familiar with each other and chatted frequently, and I didn’t expect that he only cheated acquaintances; secondly, we were both alumni of Shenzhen University; thirdly, he donated 50 million to Shenzhen University, and I thought it couldn’t be fake. Basically, the situation of all the victims was the same as mine, which was the above three reasons.

To be honest, I read the report Wu said at that time more than five times. When I transferred the money to him in May this year, I read the report Wu said again and again, but I still chose to believe this person in the end. Because I thought at that time, a liar couldn't lie for so long, from 22 years to now. His information, identity, and background are all very consistent. I saw a lot of negative news, but I didn't believe it at that time.

Colin: So when did you start to have doubts?

Huang Yifeng: It was when he postponed the repayment of the principal. Because we agreed on July 25 for the first installment, he took the initiative to tell me that the market was not very good recently and there was a little less money, so we postponed it to August 20. In mid-July, one of his childhood friends sent a tweet, and then slowly, many victims contacted that key person, and I knew the whole story.

There are about ten known victims like me, and the timeline is roughly from September 2024, and the known amount is more than 3 million. As far as I know, most people's principal has been returned, but there are still at least 200,000 people who have not received it because this person has been chasing them.

In fact, someone had already called the police. At that time, there was a debt of about 1 million yuan that Zhang Yufeng owed to his college classmate, and then that person called the police. The police came directly to Zhang Yufeng's home, and then Zhang Yufeng's family paid back the 1 million yuan. Some of the victims were his childhood friends, friends he had known since high school, and they went on a graduation trip together. His family did run a printing factory.

Colin: How does Zhang Yufeng create his personal image?

Huang Yifeng: He is a professional liar. From 2002 to now, he has been creating this kind of persona, that is, he is very rich, such as Stanford admission certificate, such as his OKX account, which has tens of millions of U, and he often shows it to others.

I think his paranoia is beyond doubt. He also said that he met Musk and is one of the top ten shareholders of Tesla.

I went to his home in Shenzhen No. 1. At first he told me that he bought it, but later I found out that he rented it. Finally, I found out that he still owed rent and was given a ticket.

Around the time he made the donation in 2003, he already owed 6,000 yuan to an online loan company. He filled in the phone number of a childhood friend as his emergency contact, and the online loan company called his childhood friend.

I think Shenzhen University was also deceived (fraudulent donation). Before the donation, the dean of their college also invited Zhang Yufeng to give some speeches. He talked about the road to financial freedom and how to get an offer from Sequoia.

Colin: Why did you come out and expose him?

Huang Yifeng: If I hadn’t exposed it, more people would have been deceived. In fact, there were many small episodes in between. For example, he asked me to go to Hong Kong, and then asked me to go to Singapore, but he stood me up each time. When I couldn’t pay back the money, he said he had myocarditis and went to Hong Kong for hospitalization. The medical examination fee was 50,000 yuan, and the hospitalization fee was 100,000 yuan. His private plane was cancelled because of this, and the deposit of 100,000 yuan was deducted. His father had myocarditis and was in the ICU. His mother was sick again. He used all kinds of excuses to make excuses.

His ancestral home is Meizhou, but he is from Dongguan. He only cheated people around him, only the people he knew best. It's really too exaggerated. Some of his internships were bought, and some of them may be made up. There are still two transfer records for purchasing internships.

According to a friend, at least two groups of people came to his parents to ask for money. His father didn't want to pay it back, thinking that his son's ability to cheat money was his own ability, so just don't mess with him. His mother might be kinder, and she paid back the money in installments over a year.

Colin: Actually, this matter is not complicated. Zhang Yufeng may have some paranoia. He has no money to spend and his family doesn't give him money, so he goes to ask people around him for an excuse to borrow money.

Huang Yifeng: I think so, but there are some very bad parts in the process, such as only deceiving people around him, which is somewhat against human nature. I have always been curious about how many people he deceived when he opened Knowledge Planet. The podcast that the employees of Deribit made about him also deceived many people.