"I've never even gone to their location to get a card," Zhi Pengfei told ifeng.com's Storm Eye.
In 2011, a loan of 50,000 yuan and three guarantees of 50,000 yuan each, totaling 200,000 yuan, appeared under his name.
Zhi Pengfei said he never showed up to sign and never received the money.
This 15-year controversy reached a crucial juncture on August 26, 2026.
The court-appointed forensic authentication agency issued an opinion stating that none of the ten signatures in question were written by Zhi Pengfei himself, and the ten fingerprints were also not left by his fingers.
The case has not yet been ruled on, and whether he can wipe out his bad credit record and receive compensation remains to be decided by the court.
Regarding the situation reflected by Zhi Pengfei, the Phoenix News "Eye of the Storm" program has contacted the Baofeng Branch of the Henan Rural Commercial Bank multiple times to verify the relevant issues, but as of press time, no response has been received from the other party.
No One is in the Country, How Can We Sign?
Zhi Pengfei first realized there was an issue with his credit score in 2015.
That year, when he was preparing to buy his first home and applied for a mortgage, the bank immediately informed him that there were overdue loan records, and his application was directly rejected.
According to the information he provided, on August 19, 2011, there was a personal loan of 50,000 yuan under his name; on the same day, he also provided joint liability guarantees for 50,000 yuan loans each for three villagers, Yuan, Wang, and Yuan. The total debt of the four loans was 200,000 yuan, with a loan term of two years, and was eligible for renewal.
The original lender of the aforementioned loan was the Daying Credit Union of Baofeng County Rural Credit Cooperatives Union, and with the restructuring of local rural credit institutions, the relevant creditor's rights and debts of the former Baofeng County Rural Credit Cooperatives Union Daying Credit Union have now been taken over by the Baofeng Branch of Henan Rural Commercial Bank.
After four contracts expired, his signature was still on the contract extension in August 2013.
However, Zhi Pengfei claimed that he was not in the country at the time.
Entry and exit records provided by Zhi Pengfei show that he left the country from Xiamen in July 2013 and entered the country in June 2014.
Photo source: provided by Qi Pengfei
"I was working in the Philippines at the time and wasn't even in the country, so how could I have signed for you?"
In 2018, Zhi Pengfei planned to purchase a second home, but was once again rejected by the bank due to the same overdue record.
Zhi Pengfei said he has now formally approached the bank involved to negotiate and has also reported the incident to the police. The bank responded by saying they would investigate, but there has been no further response since then.
This overdue loan has always been listed on his credit report, but the bank has never taken him to court to recover the debt.
Zhi Pengfei recalled that around 2021, a debt collector came to his doorstep, and he immediately explained that he had never taken out the loan, after which the debt collection efforts ceased.
As he hasn't been subjected to enforcement procedures, his daily commutes remain unrestricted, and he can still take high-speed trains, making his life seem normal on the surface, but this invisible debt will emerge and block his way only when he needs to take out a loan.
Forensic examination reveals: 10 signatures and 10 fingerprints do not belong to the individual
In 2025, Qi Pengfei, a truck driver, planned to spend over 700,000 yuan to purchase a truck for self-operated transportation, but his loan application was rejected once again.
He has decided not to drag it out any longer and has directly submitted a lawsuit to the Baofeng County People's Court, requesting that the 2011 loan contract and three guarantee contracts be declared invalid, demanding that the bank remove the adverse credit record, and seeking compensation for economic losses of 100,000 yuan and lawyer's fees of 10,000 yuan, totaling 110,000 yuan.
On April 24, 2026, the court officially filed the case and scheduled a second hearing for September 17.
According to a document provided by Qi Pengfei to ifeng.com's "Eye of the Storm", Henan Rural Commercial Bank Co., Ltd.'s Baofeng Branch requested the court to have Qi Pengfei provide his signature and fingerprint from his travel documents as comparison materials, believing this would better reflect the objective and true situation.
Ultimately, at the commission of the Baofeng County People's Court, the Henan Zhongyi Judicial Appraisal Center initiated two judicial appraisals on the signatures and fingerprints in the documents related to the case.
On August 26, the appraisal results were officially released, showing that none of the 10 signatures in question were written by Qi Pengfei, and none of the 10 fingerprints matched those of Qi Pengfei.
Image source: appraisal opinion document provided by Qi Pengfei
Li Haiquan, a lawyer at Shanghai Shenyihe Law Firm, told ifeng.com's "Eye of the Storm" that forensic appraisal has proven the signature and fingerprints are not those of Qi Pengfei, and given that his entry and exit records show he was not in the country during the extension period, it can be determined that the contract does not represent his true intentions. According to Article 146 of the Civil Code, "Civil legal acts performed with false expressions of intent are invalid," and Article 143, which stipulates the requirement for true intention, the aforementioned contract should be deemed invalid and has had no legal binding force from the start.
If the court rules the contract is invalid, it usually orders the bank to proactively remove the adverse credit record after the ruling takes effect. If the bank fails to do so, Zhi Pengfei can apply for the court to enforce it. Additionally, according to Article 25 of the Credit Industry Management Regulations, he can also directly raise an objection to the credit agency or the information provider, requesting a correction, and the agency should investigate and handle it within 20 days of receiving the objection.
Loan Issues Not Isolated Incidents
Zhi Pengfei's experience is not an isolated case.
In recent years, the Henan Rural Commercial Bank system has been exposed to multiple cases of fraudulent lending, with victims often being rural residents with lower educational backgrounds and weaker rights protection capabilities.
In August 2026, a collective "being loaned to" incident was exposed at the Nanyang Wan Cheng branch in Henan.
A villager, who has been farming for years with an annual income of less than 300,000 yuan, was deceived by a fellow villager in 2020 with the promise of "receiving subsidies" into signing and verifying their identity. It was only later that they discovered they had been made the legal representative shareholder of a technology company, with two principal loans and one guarantee totaling 14.8 million yuan under their name at the Nanyang Wan Cheng Branch of Henan Rural Commercial Bank (formerly Wan Cheng District Rural Credit Cooperatives). It wasn't until April 2026, when their personal account, property, and vehicle were all frozen by the court, that they became aware of the massive debt they had incurred.
It is reported that a total of 8 villagers in the village have encountered similar scams, with 3 having fixed complete evidence, and two other villagers mysteriously shouldering loans of 9.5 million yuan and 4.95 million yuan, respectively. The bank involved responded by saying "all procedures were confirmed and signed by the parties themselves".
Earlier in May 2026, a case in Tanghe County, Nanyang, where a 60-year-old low-income resident, Xing Mingjin, was "loaned" 200,000 yuan, drew public attention.
Xing Minjin can't even write his own name, and the signature on the contract was forged by someone holding his finger, with the bank automatically deducting repayments from his low-income subsidy account every month, totaling around 15,000 yuan over four years.
After verification by the joint investigation team, the case involved 3 individuals and 3 instances of borrowed-name loans totaling 790,000 yuan, all of which had issues with loan account holders suspected of using borrowed names to fraudulently obtain loans and Agricultural Bank of China employees violating operating procedures.
In the end, all the problematic loans and frozen deposits were recovered, the credit default and enforcement information was deleted, and the Tanghe County disciplinary inspection and supervision authority and the Agricultural Bank of China's disciplinary committee took action against 15 relevant personnel.
An investigation by Storm Eye found that these cases of fraudulent lending in the name of others have highly overlapping characteristics, with incidents concentrated in grassroots outlets at or below the county level. Violations often occurred during the transition period when rural credit cooperatives were being transformed into rural commercial banks. The victims generally lacked awareness of financial risks and were easily deceived or coerced into signing by acquaintances under the guise of subsidies or assistance. Meanwhile, key risk control measures at the banking end, including identity verification, face-to-face interviews, and pre-loan investigations, were all formalities in these cases and failed to play any gatekeeping role.
This ultimately translates into increased rights protection costs for ordinary parties involved.
Li Haikuan stated that once discovering a similar situation, one should immediately communicate with the bank, confirm that the loan is not their own, and request the bank to provide the full set of loan documents, including the loan contract, original signature, interview records, and audio and video materials. To preserve evidence, a written application can be mailed to the bank via EMS if necessary. If the bank does not accept the complaint, a report can be filed with the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and a credit report dispute application can be submitted to the local branch of the People's Bank of China. If the amount is large and may involve loan fraud, a report can be filed with the public security authorities for handling. If the issue remains unresolved for a long time, a civil lawsuit can be initiated. As the custodian of the contract, the bank bears the burden of proof to verify the authenticity of the signature.
He also specifically cautioned against believing market intermediaries who claim they can "fix your credit record for a fee" or "help negotiate repayments with banks," warning that such schemes could lead to further losses.