AI Brand Impersonation Crypto Schemes: Misusing Famous AI Names for Token Issuance and Serial 'Rebranding' Scams

Who Gets Targeted

The primary victims are middle-class individuals and small business owners aged 25 to 55 who have some investment experience but lack technical discernment. Seeing names similar to well-known AI brands, they develop a sense of trust based on the perceived 'backing of tech giants.' After being brainwashed by closed-community scripts, they invest their life savings. Some victims, having previously lost money in traditional P2P or crypto schemes, are desperate to recoup losses and selectively ignore risk signals, creating a vicious cycle of 'previous losses → new investment → being trapped again.'

骗局怎么运作

• Step 1: Select an AI brand with recent financing or high market buzz, register domains and companies with highly similar names, and forge 'strategic partnership' press releases and fake financing screenshots to create the illusion of being a 'project under a famous AI company,' thereby lowering victims' guard.
• Step 2: Build counterfeit websites and apps, claiming to feature 'AI quantitative trading bots' or 'DeFi arbitrage engines.' Display tampered, fake backend earnings data and promise monthly returns of 10% to 30%. Some projects also offer 'registration bonus tokens' to lower the barrier to entry.
• Step 3: Establish a multi-level marketing (MLM) system with VIP tiers and referral commission mechanisms to encourage early participants to recruit new users. Shills are placed in communities to post fake profit screenshots and 'successful withdrawal' records daily, creating a hype-driven atmosphere to attract subsequent capital.
• Step 4: Once the capital pool reaches a certain scale or new funds are insufficient to cover promised returns, suspend withdrawals using excuses like 'system upgrade and maintenance,' 'on-chain anomalies triggering risk control locks,' or 'compliance review requiring account freezing.' Demand that participants pay a 'thawing deposit' or 'verification fee' to withdraw, executing a secondary harvest.
• Step 5: After the platform is completely shut down, the operations team migrates the domain, app, and community to a new brand name. They reuse the same scripts and program framework, 'converting' the unwithdrawn balances from the old scheme into the new one to lure victims into continuing to invest, achieving a serial 'rebranding' relaunch.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Promising monthly returns exceeding 10% with fixed, non-fluctuating yields, which is completely disconnected from real market volatility.
• 🚩 The claimed AI technology cannot be found in mainstream exchanges, nor can corresponding code or audit reports be found on GitHub.
• 🚩 Company registration information has no connection to the impersonated famous AI brand; domain registration is very recent, and WHOIS information is hidden.
• 🚩 Communities are flooded with shills posting profit screenshots; administrators ban members from discussing failed withdrawal experiences, and those who question the project are immediately removed from the group.
• 🚩 The platform suspends withdrawals en masse after 3 to 6 months of operation, citing 'system upgrades,' 'on-chain risk control,' or 'compliance freezes.'

真实案例

• In 2025, the 'China Zhipu AI' project impersonated Zhipu AI to conduct illegal crypto speculation, claiming high returns from AI quantitative trading. ChaPanWang exposed it as a fake AI project, and the platform closed withdrawal channels after investors deposited between 1,000 and 25,000 RMB.
• Between 2024 and 2025, a Ponzi scheme impersonating VAST.AI spread across multiple regions, using the brand name of the AI unicorn that had just raised 1 billion RMB for MLM-style promotion. XiangmuZhijia issued a major warning about its impersonation nature, and investors in many areas reported being unable to withdraw funds.
• In 2025, the Shenzhen Zhongshengming AI quantitative wealth management scheme was officially filed for investigation by Shenzhen public security authorities for a total lock-up of funds. The case involves an estimated amount exceeding 300 million RMB. The project had promised high returns from AI quantitative management, but after locking funds, investors could not withdraw, and the person in charge went missing.
• In February 2025, following the viral success of DeepSeek, a large number of impersonated tokens appeared on the market. According to a report by security firm BlockAid, 75 fake DeepSeek tokens were created on the Ethereum and Solana networks, with fraud amounts reaching 420 million RMB. After DeepSeek officially clarified that it had never issued any cryptocurrency, the prices of multiple impersonated tokens quickly dropped to zero. (Source: https://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2025-02-07/3745066.html)
• In November 2020, the Yancheng Court in Jiangsu disclosed the massive WoToken crypto MLM case: from July 2018 to October 2019, the platform used 'Apollo intelligent robot arbitrage' as a front to develop 715,249 members across 501 levels, involving a total of 7.7 billion RMB in virtual currency. The mastermind, Gao Yudong, was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison for organizing and leading pyramid selling activities. (Source: https://www.leiphone.com/category/gbsecurity/yrpYdvhf7uOM14Ns.html)

Official Stance

• In September 2021, the People's Bank of China and ten other departments jointly issued the 'Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks in Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation,' clarifying that business activities related to virtual currencies are illegal financial activities.
• In May 2025, police in Johor, Malaysia, raided a fake crypto investment scam syndicate in Forest City. 335 people were arrested and 159 were charged. The amount involved was significant, and local regulators emphasized the requirement for licensed compliance.
• In 2024, the National Internet Finance Association of China and other departments jointly issued a warning to be vigilant against illegal fundraising and virtual currency speculation under the guise of 'AI quantitative' and 'intelligent wealth management,' advising investors to verify platform qualifications through formal channels.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify the true connection between the project operator and the claimed AI brand through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System and the Trademark Office website. Any entity with a similar name but no equity or authorization relationship should be treated as a fake.
• ✅ Maintain high vigilance against any crypto or DeFi wealth management product that promises fixed high returns and claims to be AI-driven. Check if the smart contract code is open-source and has passed authoritative security audits on official blockchain explorers.
• ✅ Never pay so-called 'thawing deposits' or 'verification fees.' Any platform that has suspended withdrawals and requires a deposit to withdraw is exhibiting signs of a secondary scam. Stop transferring money immediately, save all chat records and transfer receipts, and report the case to public security authorities.
• ✅ Pay attention to warning information released by local anti-fraud centers and financial regulatory departments. Verify if the project has been flagged, and maintain rational judgment regarding 'limited-time entry' or 'last spots available' hunger marketing tactics used in communities.