AI Agent Quantitative Referral Group: Multi-Level Referral Schemes Disguised as AI Quantitative Investment

Who Gets Targeted

Primary victims are middle-aged and young office workers, self-employed individuals, and full-time homemakers looking for a quick financial turnaround, possessing tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands in savings, limited investment knowledge, but a strong desire to beat inflation. Typical psychological weaknesses include 'fear of missing out combined with fear of admitting ignorance': seeing profit screenshots posted in groups, mentors live-streaming AI models, and others claiming successful withdrawals makes them believe they have caught a window of opportunity. After a few small rebates, they convince themselves and invest more in security deposits and margin top-ups. Under the 'recruit three friends for commission' mechanism, they transform from victims into free promoters, expanding losses before letting pride stop them from calling the police.

骗局怎么运作

• Step 1: Short video and live stream traffic acquisition. Ads on platforms like Douyin and Video Accounts promoting 'fully automated AI quantitative trading, say goodbye to staring at screens and losing money' create anxiety about missing out, guiding viewers to add corporate WeChat accounts under the pretense that 'quotas are limited to the first one hundred people, missing out means waiting until next quarter.'
• Step 2: Group trust-building. A large number of setup accounts are deployed in the group to post profit screenshots and thank the mentors, publishing forged AI model backtest curves and institutional cooperation authorization certificates, claiming official cooperation with overseas exchanges to make newcomers mistakenly believe the project has official backing.
• Step 3: Small-scale testing and rebates. Users are guided to download niche overseas trading apps and deposit hundreds to thousands of yuan. The first few transactions fulfill promises of 8% to 20% returns and can be withdrawn, which are actually paid using funds from later joiners to create the illusion of real platform profitability.
• Step 4: Upgraded harvesting. Victims are lured into investing tens of thousands of yuan under the guise of 'unlocking advanced AI signals,' 'thawing security deposits,' or 'climbing rankings for dividends.' At the same time, a referral rebate mechanism is introduced where recruiting a friend to deposit funds yields a 10% commission, forming a pyramid-style team remuneration structure.
• Step 5: Closing and running away. When incoming capital slows down, the platform delays withdrawals using excuses like 'system upgrades,' 'risk control reviews,' or 'tax payment required before withdrawal.' Subsequently, the app becomes inaccessible, chat groups are disbanded, and mentors lose contact, with funds transferred through cryptocurrency channels making recovery extremely difficult.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Claiming that AI automated trading guarantees profits without losses, with daily or monthly returns significantly higher than normal financial management levels while promising principal protection.
• 🚩 Requiring money to be transferred to personal bank accounts, cryptocurrency addresses, or unknown overseas trading apps rather than licensed institutional accounts.
• 🚩 Profits derived primarily from recruiting friends and team-level commissions rather than real profit dividends.
• 🚩 Groups filled exclusively with profit-celebration cheers and disallowing critical questions; mentors only conduct voice live-streams and refuse offline meetings or video identity verification.
• 🚩 Demanding continued deposits under the names of security deposits, taxes, or risk control reviews in order to withdraw principal.
• 🚩 Inability to cross-verify the claimed AI models, backtest data, or cooperation authorization certificates on official exchange or regulatory authority websites.

真实案例

• In October 2025, a resident surnamed Jia in Wushui Town, Linwu County, Hunan Province, saw a short video about 'AI automated product selection and smart cross-border e-commerce operations,' added the person's corporate WeChat, downloaded a designated app to learn how to open a store, and was ultimately defrauded of 170,000 yuan through variant task-fraud scripts. Local police publicized this case as a typical example of AI concept scams. (Source: [https://city.news.cctv.com/2026/06/15/ARTI5dfFSxEnmVSERUyMR5r2260615.shtml](https://city.news.cctv.com/2026/06/15/ARTI5dfFSxEnmVSERUyMR5r2260615.shtml))
• According to a 2026 CCTV report, a victim in a certain region paid a 55 yuan entry fee after seeing promotions in a live-stream about 'using AI technology for cross-border e-commerce to earn hundreds daily while lying down,' was pulled into a WeChat group, and was induced to download an overseas app, subsequently pouring in large amounts of funds under the pretext of prepayment task scams which could not be withdrawn. (Source: [https://city.news.cctv.com/2026/06/15/ARTI5dfFSxEnmVSERUyMR5r2260615.shtml](https://city.news.cctv.com/2026/06/15/ARTI5dfFSxEnmVSERUyMR5r2260615.shtml))
• In April 2026, according to TMTpost reports, AI training courses have become a new scam that middle-aged and elderly people struggle to avoid: the courses in question were actually pre-recorded yet defrauded over a thousand consumers—the vast majority of whom were middle-aged and elderly—with the involved amount exceeding one million yuan. The million-yuan scam continues to spread, and victims face difficult rights protection. (Source: [https://www.tmtpost.com/7954312.html](https://www.tmtpost.com/7954312.html))

Official Stance

• Public risk warnings in 2026 pointed out that individuals are using concepts like AI agents, AI quantitative investment, and Web3.0 to carry out illegal fund-raising and pyramid scheme fraud, guiding traffic via short videos, WeChat groups, and mini-programs, and exchanging small-scale rebates for trust, reminding the public not to be easily misled.
• In June 2026, CCTV News jointly with police released a warning titled 'Earn US Dollars Just by Lying Down for 55 Yuan? Police Deeply Dissect AI Cross-Border E-Commerce Scams,' pointing out that such live-streaming scripts are actually variant prepayment task traps.
• In June 2026, public security new media outlets in multiple regions issued anti-fraud reminders deeply reconstructing the process of AI e-commerce task scams, noting that any combination of 'AI automated money-making + group creation + upfront funding' is a scam.
• The National Anti-Fraud Center's 2025-2026 warning consistently lists 'fake investment and financial management + AI script packaging' as a high-incidence category, warning against depositing funds into unfamiliar apps.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Treat any project claiming AI automated trading and guaranteed returns as a scam by default, and verify counterpart qualifications with the CSRC, SAC, or local public security anti-fraud hotlines (such as 96110).
• ✅ Download financial apps exclusively from official app stores, avoid clicking links in groups to install overseas trading software, and never transfer money to personal accounts or cryptocurrency addresses.
• ✅ Perform reverse validation after entering investment groups: search the project name plus keywords like 'scam,' verify mentor identities and corporate business registration information, and remain alert to content that only shows profits while ignoring risks.
• ✅ Bear in mind that recruiting rebates involve suspected pyramid schemes; immediately leave groups and report any model where downline deposits serve as the primary source of income.
• ✅ Once a transfer has been made, immediately call 110 and bank customer service to apply for emergency payment stops, and preserve chat records, transfer receipts, and app screenshots as evidence.