AI Computing Power Dividend Ponzi Scheme: High dividend lure under the guise of cloud computing power leasing, disappearing with funds after collecting rent

Who Gets Targeted

Victims are mostly middle-aged and elderly investors lacking professional computing power knowledge, retirees, and micro-enterprise owners. The primary victims are residents over 45 in tier-3 and tier-4 cities with limited information channels who are eager to obtain high annualized returns through low-threshold 'cloud computing power leasing'. Psychologically lured by high returns, dividend promises, and so-called 'national-level AI computing power platforms', they easily trust recommendations from acquaintances and communities, lacking risk identification abilities, and ultimately invest their retirement savings or idle funds, leading to inability to withdraw and total financial loss. According to statistics from exposed platforms, the membership scale of a single such computing power leasing Ponzi scheme can exceed 30,000 people, with the involved amount conservatively estimated at 1.2 billion yuan (self-reported figures by victims have not been independently verified).

骗局怎么运作

• First, scammers publish promotional materials for 'AI computing power cloud leasing' projects via WeChat groups, short videos, or official accounts, claiming to have obtained national-level AI computing power licenses and offering unreasonable daily dividend promises of 30% to 50%, while using professional terminology such as 'computing power pool, GPU leasing, AI training as a service' extensively in the copy to enhance credibility.
• Subsequently, the project promoters set up a 'rent prepayment' link, requiring victims to pay a one-time rent ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan, and provide forged payment screenshots, fake contracts, and a 'computing power monitoring dashboard', pacifying the counterparties with rhetoric such as 'allocated computing power, real-time earnings curve'; they also claim that rent must be paid first to activate computing power, forming a psychological chain of paying first and getting later.
• Once victims complete the payment, scammers collect the funds through anonymous payment platforms or crypto wallets, subsequently sharing a 'computing power operation video' or 'dividend arrival screenshot', and making victims wait patiently on the grounds that 'system verification takes a few minutes', while actually providing no real computing power resources.
• After repeated urging by the victims, scammers often continue to demand additional fees under the pretext of 'computing power maintenance and node upgrades', or directly cut off communication channels. Some platforms even use fake customer service calls to continue extracting victims' personal information to prevent them from reporting to the police.
• Finally, the project promoters transfer all collected rent within a short time to overseas cryptocurrency addresses or multi-tiered bank accounts, and then completely disappear, leaving victims to face unrecoverable, total financial losses.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Promoting annualized returns or dividends far higher than the industry average, such as a monthly return of 30% or more
• 🚩 The provided computing power monitoring pages and earnings screenshots are all forged or demonstration videos, unable to verify the real source of computing power
• 🚩 Requiring victims to pay large amounts of rent or additional fees upfront, with no formal registration or physical office address
• 🚩 Promotional materials contain false or expired AI computing power licenses and certification marks, but corresponding information cannot be queried on official platforms
• 🚩 Transactions are conducted solely through private communities, personal accounts, or non-formal channels, lacking third-party escrow or contract recordation

真实案例

• In April 2024, the 'Lianhe Joint Intelligent Computing Center Custodial Dividend Ponzi Scheme' recruited over 110,000 members through WeChat groups, cumulatively collecting over 100 million yuan in rent. The platform's funds were subsequently entirely transferred away, users were unable to withdraw, and it has entered the rights-protection stage ([https://panxun.vwt.cc/article/6474.html](https://panxun.vwt.cc/article/6474.html)).
• In December 2023, the 'Fengchao AI' cloud mining project was exposed on Project Home, promoting the use of fake AI computing power licenses, while the actual computing power equipment provided were all empty shells, defrauding victims of a total of approximately 25,000 yuan ([https://www.paiu.cn/article/6573.html](https://www.paiu.cn/article/6573.html)).
• In September 2023, 'Bit Harbor' claimed that renting only 3 secondhand mining rigs would allow participation in high dividends. In reality, it was merely a combination of secondhand mining rig resale and a Ponzi scheme, resulting in tens of thousands of people losing everything, with an involved amount of about 30 million yuan ([https://xmzhjia.com/article/2330.html](https://xmzhjia.com/article/2330.html)).

Official Stance

• Shenzhen Municipal Local Financial Administration, 2025-03-21, issued the 'Risk Warning on Guarding Against Illegal Fundraising Carried Out in the Name of Investing in AI, Cloud Computing, Cloud Storage, Big Data, etc.' (Source: [https://jr.sz.gov.cn/sjrb/xxgk/tzzjy/content/post_12082589.html](https://jr.sz.gov.cn/sjrb/xxgk/tzzjy/content/post_12082589.html))

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Before deciding to lease computing power, log on to official platforms such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation to verify whether the project has obtained legal filings and licenses; if official information cannot be queried, remain vigilant immediately.
• ✅ Require the other party to provide genuine proof of computing power resources, such as GPU models, computing power metrics, data center IP, etc., and verify its operating status through third-party monitoring platforms; do not judge authenticity based solely on screenshots or demonstration videos.
• ✅ Avoid one-time large-scale payments, use regulated third-party payment or escrow services, sign formal electronic contracts, and retain complete payment transaction flows and chat records for subsequent evidence collection.
• ✅ If project abnormalities or loss of contact with the other party are discovered, report to local public security organs at the earliest opportunity, retain all promotional materials, chat records, and payment vouchers, and cooperate with police tracking efforts.