AI Computing Power Hosting Dividend Scam: Fake Intelligent Computing Center Investment Rebates Actually a Ponzi Scheme

Who Gets Targeted

The victims are predominantly middle-aged retail investors aged 35 to 55, including retirees, individual industrial and commercial households, office workers with some savings but only a superficial understanding of AI technology, and some small and medium-sized enterprise owners. Attracted by the combination of high tech and high returns, they mistakenly believe that AI computing power is a scarce asset capable of generating stable cash flows. Their psychological weaknesses include blind faith in emerging technologies coupled with the fear of missing out (FOMO), insufficient ability to identify Ponzi structures, being misled by the grandeur of offline presentation meetings and state-owned enterprise (SOE) partnership endorsements, and an eager desire for wealth growth that causes them to ignore whether the underlying assets actually exist.

骗局怎么运作

• Concept Packaging: Registering company names containing terms like intelligent computing, AI, and computing power, mimicking genuine AI unicorn brands. They claim partnerships with well-known chip manufacturers or state-owned enterprises in communities and offline presentations, displaying forged cooperation agreements and technical white papers with pitches like "We are NVIDIA's computing power hosting partner in China, offering monthly returns of 8% to 15% on AI server investments," using information asymmetry to create an illusion of authority.
• New Member Rebates: Establishing a computing power share subscription model where investors purchase computing power dividend rights in units of 10,000 yuan. Early returns are indeed paid out monthly, with yields far exceeding bank wealth management products. Pitches include "Computing power is the oil of the new era; getting in now means buying founding shares, and missing out means losing your spot." In reality, the rebates come from the principal of later investors, forming a typical Ponzi structure. Over time, the capital pool is bound to break.
• Hierarchical Distribution: Embedding a multi-level distribution mechanism where recommending new investors yields computing power bonuses, team awards, differential awards, and more. Pitches include "Introduce three people, and your computing power dividend directly doubles; exceed certain generations to receive differential subsidies." Through hierarchical fission, the capital pool rapidly scales up, with core operators extracting commissions from every layer of capital inflow while using community operations to incentivize participants to actively develop downlines.
• Lock-up Delays: When new funds become insufficient to cover old interest payments, operators suspend withdrawals under pretexts such as system upgrades, computing power expansion audits, or regulatory coordination, with pitches like "This month's dividends are delayed due to the intelligent computing center expansion; please rest assured and wait, it will resume shortly." Simultaneously, they arrange shills in the community to post screenshots of successful withdrawals to stabilize morale, gradually creating a time window for the final getaway and fund transfer.
• Fleeing with Funds: After weeks of lock-up, the operators shut down applications, clear out communities, and deregister the company entities. The core team absconds with the money or transfers it overseas, leaving investors with no recourse for rights protection. The funds have been layered, transferred, and laundered through cryptocurrencies and shell companies, ultimately leaving victims facing shell entities with zero hope of recovery. Criminal case filing after reporting is difficult, and the asset recovery and loss mitigation rate is extremely low.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Promising fixed computing power dividend yields of over 8% monthly or 100% annually, while claiming principal and returns are guaranteed—severely disconnected from real computing power market fluctuation yields.
• 🚩 The operating entity's registration date is later than the project's promotion date, with extremely low or zero paid-in registered capital, yet claiming deep computing power partnerships with international giants like NVIDIA.
• 🚩 Requiring investors to develop downlines to obtain computing power bonuses and team differential rewards, with more than three tiers, bearing obvious multi-level marketing (MLM) characteristics.
• 🚩 Indefinitely delaying withdrawals under pretexts such as system upgrades, computing power expansion audits, or regulatory coordination, while a large volume of withdrawal-success screenshots appears in communities without the ability to independently verify their authenticity.
• 🚩 Offline presentation meetings feature luxurious settings but lack publicly verifiable computing power server room addresses, and the purported partner SOEs or chip manufacturers cannot confirm partnerships through official channels.

真实案例

• According to Panxun.com, the Lianhe Intelligent Computing Center Hosting Dividend fund-like scheme attracted approximately 110,000 members under the guise of intelligent computing center hosting dividends. The operator raised over 100 million yuan, collapsed and fled in 2026, leaving investors unable to withdraw funds. Rights protection efforts are currently underway, and information regarding both the platform entity and the actual controller is untraceable.
• According to Xiangmu Zhijia, an overseas syndicate impersonated VAST.AI—an AI unicorn that had just secured 1 billion yuan in financing—to run an MLM fund scheme. Under the guise of AI computing power investment, it spread across multiple regions to absorb funds, falsely advertising its brand qualifications and financing background. Investors in multiple locations have reported the case.
• According to Xiangmu Zhijia, the Fengchao AI Cloud Mining platform claimed to hold official cloud mining licenses and physical mining rigs. Investigations revealed that the licenses were forged and the mining rigs were virtual props. After investing funds, investors were unable to withdraw them, and it was ultimately confirmed as a fake investment and wealth management scam. The involved amount was not publicly disclosed.
• According to Jinrongwang, the Zhongshengming Quantitative AI Wealth Management scheme absorbed funds under the name of quantitative AI wealth management before completely locking up all positions. The Shenzhen Public Security Bureau has officially filed a case, with estimated involved amounts exceeding 300 million yuan. Investors are unable to withdraw funds after the platform's lock-up, and the case remains under investigation.

Official Stance

• On June 27, 2026, the Chongqing Municipal Government released a risk warning reminding citizens to be vigilant against six types of sci-tech financial scams, including investing in AI servers.
• On February 6, 2026, eight departments including the People's Bank of China jointly issued the Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks Related to Virtual Currency (Yinfa [2026] No. 42), strictly prohibiting business activities related to virtual currencies.
• On August 5, 2026, People's Daily published a risk warning regarding the prevention of illegal financial activities related to virtual currencies.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify the registration information of operating entities through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. Confirm whether partnerships genuinely exist by checking the official channels of chip manufacturers or intelligent computing centers claimed as partners. Beware of forged cooperation agreements and brand impersonation, and additionally verify their shareholder background and paid-in registered capital.
• ✅ Maintain high skepticism toward any computing power wealth management product promising stable returns exceeding 8% monthly or 100% annually. The legitimate computing power leasing market's yields fluctuate significantly based on supply and demand and cannot offer long-term stable high returns.
• ✅ Reject any computing power investment project that requires developing downlines to obtain dividend bonuses, team awards, or differential rewards. Such structures are suspected of MLM and should be immediately avoided and reported to market regulation authorities.
• ✅ Regularly check risk warnings and lists of suspected illegal fundraising enterprises published by local public security organs and financial regulatory bureaus. If an investment platform appears on these lists, immediately stop investing, preserve evidence such as contracts and transfer records, and report the case promptly.