Fake AI Unicorn Token Impersonation Scam: Using Names of Prominent Companies Like Zhipu AI to Issue Virtual Tokens for Illegal Fundraising

Who Gets Targeted

Victims are primarily middle-income individuals aged 25 to 50 with some investment experience but a lack of deep understanding of the underlying logic of artificial intelligence technology, including some internet practitioners, freelancers, and small-to-medium investors. They generally suffer from technological anxiety, fearing they will miss the window of the AI dividend period, while having only a superficial understanding of blockchain and tokenomics. When they see real, well-known company names such as Zhipu AI and VAST.AI used as project endorsements, they are prone to cognitive illusions of trust. Combined with the bandwagon effect created by early participants posting fake profit screenshots in communities, they often make hasty additional investments without independent verification. Some even use family savings or borrow money to add leverage, ultimately losing everything when the operators run away with the funds, making post-facto recovery extremely difficult.

骗局怎么运作

• Step 1: Impersonation and Naming: Scammer syndicates select real artificial intelligence companies that have recently secured large-scale financing and high media exposure as impersonation targets. They register company names and trademarks domestically or overseas that closely resemble the targets, and even directly use real corporate logos and founder photos in promotional materials, making it difficult for ordinary investors to distinguish true from false. Subsequently, they deploy smart contracts on the blockchain at extremely low cost, issuing tokens associated with the target company's name, such as so-called Zhipu AI Ecosystem Coins or AIC Consensus Protocol Tokens, creating the illusion of official ecosystem tokens to lay the foundation for subsequent packaging.
• Step 2: Packaging the Narrative: They construct a seemingly complete yet hollow business narrative around the token. Common pitches include AI computing power sharing equals mining, tokenization of large-model inference resources, and distributed inference network participation dividends, claiming that purchasing tokens allows users to share in the dividends of the AI industry. Simultaneously, they forge whitepapers, technical architecture diagrams, and roadshow PPTs, and even build fake official websites using domain names and page styles similar to real companies, further lowering investors' vigilance and causing ordinary users lacking technical discernment to mistakenly believe the project has genuine technical support.
• Step 3: Community Viral Expansion: They publish promotional information through channels such as WeChat groups, instant messaging groups, and short-video platforms, attracting attention with screenshots of early investors reaping high returns, and achieve viral expansion using mechanisms such as bringing in people for free tokens and invitation rebates. Multiple virtual shills are arranged within the groups to play the role of profitable investors, frequently posting information about daily returns ranging from 1% to 3%, creating an atmosphere of continuous rise, and driving new investors to deposit funds and purchase tokens as soon as possible by leveraging herd mentality and fear of missing out (FOMO).
• Step 4: Deposit and Token Locking: Investors are guided to register fake exchange accounts via designated links or to directly transfer mainstream cryptocurrencies such stablecoins to wallet addresses controlled by the project party to purchase tokens. Some projects set up lock-up mechanisms, claiming that tokens must be held for a certain period before they can be released or enjoy dividends, which actually restricts investors' freedom of withdrawal. Deposit thresholds range from a few hundred yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan, encouraging large-scale investment through tiered rewards, while censoring or kicking group members who question the authenticity of the project, thereby blocking the spread of negative information.
• Step 5: Harvesting and Running Away: When incoming funds are insufficient to pay previously promised returns, or when the operating team reaches its preset fundraising targets, the project party suspends withdrawals under pretexts such as system upgrades, compliance reviews, or hacker attacks, or directly closes websites and communities. The token price immediately drops to zero, and on-chain funds are quickly transferred to multiple decentralized addresses for laundering, leaving investors with no recourse for safeguarding their rights. Some syndicates quickly rebrand after a crash, repackaging themselves under the names of new artificial intelligence enterprises to launch the next token project, repeating the cycle of ongoing harvesting.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Claiming cooperation with well-known artificial intelligence enterprises or serving as their official ecosystem tokens, yet finding no corroborating links regarding token issuance on the target enterprise's official website, social media accounts, or public financing announcements, and the enterprise itself has never announced the issuance or planned issuance of tokens.
• 🚩 Promotional materials heavily use popular artificial intelligence terminology, such as large-model inference computing power tokenization, consensus protocols, and distributed inference mining, but the technical whitepaper lacks verifiable technical details and code audit reports, and team members' information consists entirely of vague descriptions or false biographical backgrounds.
• 🚩 Return promises include typical characteristics such as fixed daily return rates (e.g., 1% daily equivalent to an annualized rate of 365%), guaranteed principal and returns, and invite-a-friend rebates, matching the operational structure of illegal fundraising and pyramid schemes, with return levels far exceeding the reasonable range of any legitimate investment project.
• 🚩 Requiring investors to transfer funds to non-mainstream exchanges or self-built trading platforms of the project party, or even directly to personally controlled wallet addresses, lacking third-party custody and independent audit mechanisms, and setting lock-up periods or attaching additional conditions during withdrawal to obstruct the process.
• 🚩 The presence of a large number of highly identical profit screenshots and thank-you scripts in the community, users questioning the authenticity of the project being swiftly muted or removed from group chats, standardized customer service responses evading core risk issues, and promotional channels and community entry points frequently changing to evade tracking.

真实案例

• According to a 2025 report by Chaopan Network, a project named China Zhipu AI misappropriated the name of Zhipu AI to issue virtual tokens, claiming that investors could participate in so-called artificial intelligence computing power sharing dividends by purchasing tokens. Driven and promoted through WeChat groups and short-video channels, multiple investors discovered they could not withdraw funds after investing thousands to tens of thousands of yuan. The media characterized this project as a counterfeit artificial intelligence project virtual currency illegal speculation scam.
• According to a report by Xiangmu Zhijia, an overseas syndicate used the name of a real artificial intelligence unicorn enterprise to build a fake capitalization scheme platform, using computing power investment dividends as bait to attract investors to deposit funds, claiming stable daily returns and lucrative rewards. This project spread across multiple regions nationwide, with estimated amounts involved exceeding 100 million yuan. By the time the report was issued, investors in multiple places were unable to withdraw funds, and anti-fraud platforms characterized it as a counterfeit capitalization scheme pyramid scam.
• According to a report by Anti-Fraud and Scam Network, a project named Archi AI was a reskinned rebirth of the previously collapsed ARK team, wrapping a distribution rebate model in the guise of the artificial intelligence trend and achieving viral expansion through multi-tier referral mechanisms. After the project collapsed, the operating team transferred the funds, and when investors attempted to defend their rights, they found that the team registration information and project address were both fraudulent materials. Multiple investors had already lost their life savings in previous similar ARK projects.
• In July 2024, Maanshan police cracked a major cross-border telecommunications network fraud case, arresting 48 syndicate members involving 15 fraudulent apps with a total involved amount exceeding 40 million yuan. Among them, a victim was lured into an Enterprise WeChat group for task-based scamming and lost 88,000 yuan. The syndicate had been entrenched overseas for a long time, impersonating legitimate customer service and corporate identities to carry out fraud. (Source: [https://ah.ifeng.com/c/8b4WGXDuUFF](https://ah.ifeng.com/c/8b4WGXDuUFF))
• In January 2025, the Tencent Games Security Team assisted the police in Qufu, Jining, Shandong, in dismantling a criminal chain utilizing Trojan horse programs to steal game accounts and virtual equipment, with the total amount involved exceeding 30 million yuan. The criminals adopted a novel account-theft method by stealing login state data to plunder a large amount of internet users' gaming assets. (Source: [https://c.m.163.com/news/a/JOKGGSM90511B8LM.html](https://c.m.163.com/news/a/JOKGGSM90511B8LM.html))

Official Stance

• In 2025, anti-fraud centers and local public security economic investigation departments in multiple regions issued warnings through official new media channels, reminding investors to be vigilant against virtual currency capitalization scheme scams flying the dual banners of artificial intelligence and blockchain. They pointed out that most such projects are air coins issued under the names of well-known artificial intelligence enterprises, with typical characteristics including promises of high daily returns and the setup of referral rebate mechanisms, and urged citizens to report them to public security organs promptly upon discovery.
• In 2025, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and the People's Bank of China explicitly stated in financial literacy promotion activities across multiple regions that any virtual currency investment project promising principal protection, guaranteed returns, or fixed high returns under the name of technological innovation constitutes illegal fundraising. Investors should verify the qualifications of financing entities, avoid blindly trusting token issuance information published through non-official channels, and refrain from transferring funds to unknown entities.
• In 2025, the Economic Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security pointed out in notifications regarding several virtual currency pyramid scheme cases that issuing air coins without actual application support and developing downlines through recruitment constitutes the crime of organizing and leading pyramid marketing activities. Funds invested by participants are not protected by law, and investors should not expect to recover their capital through subsequent entrants. Upon discovering relevant clues, they should immediately report to local public security organs.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify Corporate Official Information: Cross-reference through multiple channels such as the target artificial intelligence enterprise's official website, official WeChat public account, and industrial and commercial information systems to check whether the enterprise has officially announced the issuance of tokens or the launch of a blockchain project. If the official website and official channels have never mentioned relevant information, the so-called ecosystem token is most likely a counterfeit impersonation scam. Do not invest.
• ✅ Beware of Unreasonable Return Promises: Maintain high skepticism toward any project promising fixed daily returns, principal protection, or an annualized return exceeding 20%. Legitimate investments cannot sustain such stable high returns, and such promises themselves already constitute suspected illegal fundraising. Immediately stay away and report to anti-fraud platforms.
• ✅ Reject Unconventional Trading Channels: Operate exclusively on known compliant mainstream digital asset trading platforms. If the project party requests transfers to personal wallet addresses or non-mainstream platforms, it heavily involves capitalization schemes or direct fraud. Funds cannot be recovered after deposit; halt immediately and preserve communication records.
• ✅ Prompt Reporting and Rights Protection: Once a token scam disguised as an artificial intelligence project is suspected, immediately preserve evidence such as promotional materials, transfer records, and chat screenshots, and report to the local public security organ's economic investigation department or anti-fraud center. Complaints can also be filed via the 12377 cyber violation reporting hotline. The earlier the report, the more favorable it is for fund recovery.