Quantitative Ponzi Scheme Lock-Up Scam: Masking a Ponzi Scheme Under the Guise of AI Stock Trading High Returns

Who Gets Targeted

Victims are mostly small and medium-sized investors with some savings but a lack of professional financial knowledge, spanning middle-class white-collar workers, self-employed individuals, and retirees aged thirty to fifty. Infatuated with technology and full of worship for AI and quantitative trading, they are easily lured by exaggerated and counter-intuitive rhetoric such as monthly returns exceeding 150% or daily returns of 3%. Driven by a general desire for quick money and a herd mentality, they ultimately fall into the fund scheme trap through community-posted order screenshots and shills fostering an atmosphere of sudden wealth. Before the collapse, they are frequently subjected to a secondary harvest through lock-up and tier-upgrade scams.

骗局怎么运作

• Fraud rings register seemingly legitimate technology companies, develop sophisticated AI quantitative stock trading client applications, and heavily promote their exclusive large model stock selection algorithms through short-video livestreams and social media groups. Lecturers in the livestream rooms display fake backend screenshots showing exorbitant profits of 3% daily or even over 150% monthly. Exploiting investors' technological worship and desire for wealth, they create a sense of urgency and fear of missing out, inducing them to download the exclusive client app and deposit funds.
• Users' deposited funds never enter real stock or foreign exchange trading markets; instead, they go directly into private bank accounts controlled by the criminal ring. The fraudsters manipulate numbers in the backend to let investors see continuous profits supposedly generated by AI intelligent copy trading, and even permit small-scale withdrawals to build trust, tricking victims into believing the system is genuine and effective, thereby increasing their investment or even pulling in friends and family.
• The platform sets up high-reward user acquisition and commission mechanisms, adopting a typical three-tier distribution model. Early participants can obtain a percentage commission based on the deposit amount of their invitees through invitation codes. This pyramid-style fission causes the victim base to grow exponentially in a short period of time, and the newly deposited funds are used to pay the returns and commissions of older users, forming a typical Ponzi scheme fund-flow closed loop.
• When the fund pool grows large enough or incoming funds are insufficient to pay the promised interest, the fraudsters initiate the harvest phase. The client app issues announcements claiming that withdrawals are suspended due to quantitative system upgrades, cooperation with regulatory reviews, or accounts suspected of violating regulations, requiring investors to pay security deposits or upgrade their tiers to unfreeze funds. They exploit victims' urgency to recover losses to carry out secondary fraud.
• After completing the fund lock-up and harvest, the operating ring rapidly shuts down the servers, disbands communities, and destroys backend data, laundering and transferring the victims' funds overseas. Subsequently, the same ring resurfaces under a new name, using similar scam tactics to harvest the next batch of unsuspecting investors in a continuous cycle of crime.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Promising abnormally high fixed returns: Claiming daily returns of 3%, annualized returns exceeding 1000%, or monthly returns exceeding 150%. According to common financial sense, no compliant financial product can or will ever promise such outrageous, risk-free exorbitant profits.
• 🚩 Transferring funds to personal or obscure company accounts: Deposit channels do not use bank custody or regular securities firms' public accounts, but instead require users to transfer funds to designated private accounts or lesser-known third-party payment channels, meaning the money never actually enters real stock trading markets.
• 🚩 Using private client applications not listed on official app stores: Requiring the download and installation of so-called stock trading software via unofficial links or QR codes. These programs cannot be searched for in mobile app stores and can have their profit and loss data controlled by hackers in the backend at any time.
• 🚩 Group chats muted and flooded with shills posting order screenshots: Official group chats set to all-members-muted or allowing only specific individuals to speak, with a large number of fixed personnel daily sending fake profit screenshots and praising the instructors, creating an extremely fanatical herd mentality and following atmosphere.
• 🚩 Platforms frequently restricting withdrawals under the pretext of system upgrades: Experiencing manual review delays during large-scale withdrawals, or being forcibly locked up and required to pay unfreezing fees under the guise of irregular trading and system maintenance. This is the most typical red flag signal before any fund scheme collapses.

真实案例

• In June 2026, the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau issued a risk warning pointing out that certain bad actors were conducting illegal stock recommendation and fund-raising fraud activities under the guise of AI quantitative stock selection. According to 21Caijing reports, an investor was lured by rhetoric boasting monthly returns of over 150% and poured 1.6 million yuan into a fake AI quantitative platform, which eventually crashed and blocked withdrawals, resulting in a total loss of funds. (Source: [https://www.cnfin.com/gs-lb/detail/20260612/4425660_1.html](https://www.cnfin.com/gs-lb/detail/20260612/4425660_1.html))
• According to multiple media reports in June 2026, Zhongchengming Quantitative completely locked up its positions under the guise of an AI financial management scheme, involving an estimated amount exceeding 300 million yuan. The Shenzhen Public Security Bureau has officially opened a case for investigation. The platform previously attracted copy-trading users with high returns and immediately halted payments once the fund pool dried up, causing heavy losses for numerous small and medium investors. (Source: [https://www.bashou.cc/article/6151.html](https://www.bashou.cc/article/6151.html))
• In mid-2026, an AI stock trading scam named Huijing Quantitative completely collapsed. According to exposure reports by Chapan.cc and project circle communities, the platform claimed daily returns of 3% and annualized returns exceeding 1000%, but investors' funds never actually entered the stock market. After the platform collapsed, the same operating ring quickly rebranded and restarted under the name Zhongshi Yantou, continuing to lure a new round of copy-trading harvesting. (Source: [https://chapan.cc/article/7880.html](https://chapan.cc/article/7880.html))

Official Stance

• On June 12, 2026, the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau issued a risk warning to stay alert against three types of illegal stock recommendation schemes including AI quantitative stock selection, explicitly stating that acts claiming the banner of AI stock trading while promising principal protection and high returns are suspected of illegal financial activities.
• In April 2026, relevant regulatory authorities issued risk warnings through channels such as Zhuque Fund and Securities Times regarding illegal financial activities carried out under the names of fake stock trading software and AI stock trading, reminding investors to guard against fake internet platform scams.
• On August 3, 2026, the official WeChat account of the Economic Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security reposted an article titled 'Targeting Securities and Futures Crimes: The Traps Behind Livestream Stock Recommendations', aiming at illegal activities utilizing livestreaming platforms and AI concepts to commit securities and futures crimes, reminding investors to recognize official licensed institutions.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify institution and personnel qualifications: Before investing in any AI quantitative or stock trading product, be sure to check the official websites of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) or the Securities Association of China to verify whether the institution holds securities investment consulting qualifications and financial licenses. Never trust unlicensed online platforms and individuals.
• ✅ Beware of promises of principal protection and high returns: Remember that there is no free lunch. Any financial product claiming principal protection and exorbitant profits far exceeding normal market levels—such as daily returns of 3% or monthly returns of over 150%—can basically be classified as fraud or a fund scheme. You must resolutely reject and stay away from them.
• ✅ Confirm fund custody pathways: Regular stock trading funds must enter bank custody or legitimate securities and futures accounts. Anyone who asks you to transfer investment funds into private bank accounts, unknown company accounts, or unofficial fourth-party payment channels should prompt you to immediately cease operations and retain transfer vouchers.
• ✅ Report and complain to stop losses in time: Once abnormal situations such as inability to withdraw funds or forced lock-ups are discovered on a platform, you should immediately stop depositing money, preserve evidence such as client screenshots, chat logs, and transfer records, call the police hotline at the first instance, and report the case to the economic investigation department of the local public security organs.