The "Fried Chicken Bro" incident has been all over the news these past few days. I don't know him personally, but many of my friends have fallen victim to it, so I'd like to say a few words to remind everyone to read this and learn how to avoid being scammed!
Many people have heard the whole story, so I won't go into details here. The story isn't new to me at all. Basically, this Gen Z guy claimed to have earned over 100 million yuan, offering to help people get freebies and trade for annualized returns. Many people invested in him, and the amount scammed is probably in the tens of millions of US dollars.
But if you've been in this circle long enough, you'll find that these kinds of stories aren't unusual; in fact, they're quite "in line with human nature."
I've written about my story about Master M before:
paragraph.com@bitwu/24-80btc In the crypto world, we have an almost instinctive tolerance and admiration for "young people who suddenly become rich."
A story of a twenty-something with assets exceeding 100 million yuan is often not questioned; it's simply retold as a legend.
Because it strikes at everyone's deepest, most hidden expectation: What if I'm next?
But the reality is quite the opposite: Making real money is an extremely difficult and counterintuitive endeavor.
It requires perfect timing, favorable location, and harmonious relationships—all three are indispensable.
If I had to remember a few fundamental principles,
I'd only mention three:
1️⃣ Truly capable people often don't flaunt their wealth.
Money is a tool for them, not a status symbol. The further they go, the more they understand that "exposure" itself is a risk.
You'll almost never see truly successful people repeatedly emphasizing how much they've earned in public.
2️⃣ Always be wary of someone who asks to borrow money from you.
Especially someone who "looks very wealthy." When someone starts explaining: the funds are just temporarily tied up, the project is about to take off, and the opportunity is only for you,
you need to realize that this is a warning sign. Those who can truly mobilize resources don't need to ask strangers for help.
3️⃣ A persona often has an inverse relationship with their true capabilities.
I've also met some people who appear extremely successful on the outside.
But from the moment they asked to borrow money, I knew: the story had already begun to change.
It's not indifference, but common sense: risk always begins with "being too embarrassed to refuse."
The most expensive thing in this world is never information asymmetry, but judgment. And judgment often comes from whether you're willing to believe a harsh truth: the true path to wealth is usually silent, slow, and tedious.
While those stories that seem too smooth almost always come at a price.
As I said before: you can be greedy, and you can be foolish. But never be greedy when you're foolish, and never be foolish when you're greedy.
