Fake Google exec dupes Tencent founder Ma Huateng
Staff reporter
2014-04-17
Pony Ma attends a State Council conference with other industry experts in Beijing on Jan. 17. (Photo/CNS)
A Chinese netizen posing as a Google executive has finally come clean, but not before duping Ma Huateng (Pony Ma), the founder of Chinese internet services giant Tencent.
Jia Yanbin had claimed for years on his microblog page that he was the general manager of Google's mobile development department and often posted photos of Google products, alleged management meetings and even a company ID as "proof."
Most people who came across Jia's microblog were convinced by his claims, including Ma Huateng, the 83rd wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes. Jia, using his Google executive identity, once engaged in a microblog chat with Ma on the billionaire's microblog page, teaching him how to change the chip in his iPhone.
Zhang Xiaolong, vice president of Tencent and the man behind the global instant messaging app phenomenon WeChat, has also reportedly been tricked by Jia's tricks.
Jia's lie was first uncovered by the founder of a Shanghai internet technology company who goes by the handle "Sexy Corn." Other netizens also found the Google photos Jia posted on his microblog elsewhere on the internet, with one even claiming that Jia currently lives at a dormitory at Taiyuan Railway Bureau in north China's Shanxi province.
On April 13, Google China's official microblog page denied that anyone by the name of Jia Yanbin ever worked for the company and said that it was taking legal action.
Jia came clean on his deception the next day and apologized to all those misled by his actions, noting that he knows how difficult it will be for him to regain the trust of the internet community.
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