Fake AI Token & Shitcoin Ponzi Scheme: Issuing worthless tokens under the guise of the AI trend, luring investors with recruitment and high-yield dividends before pulling the rug.

Who Gets Targeted

The victims are primarily middle-aged and young adults aged 30 to 55 who possess some savings and a rudimentary understanding of cryptocurrency. This demographic includes small business owners, retail investors, crypto market individual traders, and stay-at-home mothers recruited through networking. Their psychological weakness is the fear of missing out (FOMO) on the AI wealth boom while being unable to understand whitepapers and on-chain data. They are prone to believing short-term high returns and intuitive interfaces, showing a high degree of recognition for false publicity. Many enter the market coerced by acquaintances adding them to chat groups, trust relationships, and screenshots of rising group charts, gradually increasing their investments without realizing it. After a collapse, many dare not report it to the police due to shame.

骗局怎么运作

• Step 1: Cloning and Packaging. The team registers foreign names or domain names similar to well-known AI companies, forges financing news and roadshow videos, and creates a disguise of AI computing power or large language model application projects, emphasizing that they have just secured huge financing and unicorn background to lower investors' vigilance.
• Step 2: Token Issuance and Market Manipulation. They issue their own tokens and list them on minor exchanges or self-built platforms. The operators pre-hoard a large amount of tokens and liquidity pools, artificially boost K-line charts via internal accounts, and coordinate with promotional pitches promising daily returns of 1% to 4%, creating the illusion that everyone is making money.
• Step 3: Recruitment and Rebates. A multi-tier promotion reward system is established. Developing downlines grants direct referral bonuses, team bonuses, and differential bonuses. Driven by both static and dynamic returns to absorb funds, new money pays off old returns, forming a typical Ponzi scheme structure.
• Step 4: Withdrawal Restrictions and Targeted Cutting. When incoming funds slow down, the platform restricts withdrawals under pretexts such as system upgrades, risk control reviews, and compliance requirements, purposefully blocking large-scale accounts or inducing users to exchange their tokens for new shitcoins, beginning to harvest investors in batches.
• Step 5: Collapse and Rug Pull. Operators cash out mainstream coins at high positions and transfer them overseas, shut down official websites and social communities, delete roadshow videos and whitepapers. Victims find their account balances cleared and unable to contact customer service. Funds are completely unrecoverable, and the project vanishes into thin air.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Claiming daily returns of 1% to 4% or even an annualized rate of 365%, far exceeding regular financial product returns, allowing passive income simply by holding tokens, with no real business revenue supporting the high return promises.
• 🚩 The promotion system includes multi-tier rebates and differential rewards, where earnings from recruiting downlines exceed one's own investment returns, displaying typical hierarchical pyramid scheme Ponzi characteristics.
• 🚩 The exchange is not listed on mainstream platforms, trading only on sketchy or self-built platforms. There are no real on-chain liquidity pools, token holding distribution is highly concentrated, and tokens can be arbitrarily inflated.
• 🚩 Team information is vague or clones well-known AI companies. Whitepapers lack verifiable technical roadmaps and audit reports. Roadshow videos are mostly voice-over edits, and no real names or office addresses are publicly disclosed.
• 🚩 Withdrawals frequently get stuck, requiring margin payments or the completion of recruitment tasks to unlock. Later stages show precursor signals of collapse such as targeted account freezing, forced token swaps, and customer service losing contact.

真实案例

• According to Project Home reports, a fake VAST.AI Ponzi scheme cloned an AI unicorn that had just raised 1 billion. Operated by overseas syndicates through computing power dividends and pyramid rebate models to absorb funds, it has spread across multiple regions with cases exceeding 100 million. The operators lost contact and fled after restricting withdrawals.
• According to anti-fraud network disclosures, the Aqi AI project used the AI trend as a disguise while actually utilizing old distribution tactics. After the collapse, the ARK team was reborn under a new shell, continuing to absorb funds through recruitment rebates, with victims mostly being small and medium investors attracted by high returns.
• According to Project Home warnings, a BINANCE mining scam mimicking the Binance name used daily returns of 4%, recruitment rebates, and GHO shitcoins as bait. After absorbing funds, it began restricting withdrawals and freezing accounts. Victims' transferred Tether could not be withdrawn, and the operating team subsequently fled.
• In late June 2025, a fake exchange named 'DGCX Xinkangjia Data' used stablecoin USDT for deposits and withdrawals, falsely claiming a five-year strategic cooperation agreement with CNPC. It absorbed funds through a recruitment model requiring the recommendation of 9 people to upgrade to a 'platoon leader' before vanishing into thin air, affecting over 2 million investors. Blockchain data showed 1.8 billion USDT (approximately 12.9 billion RMB) was transferred. On July 7, the Public Security Bureau of Taojiang County, Hunan Province, issued a risk warning confirming it was suspected of fundraising fraud. (Source: [https://finance.ifeng.com/c/8kqqSgRd79G](https://finance.ifeng.com/c/8kqqSgRd79G))
• On June 22, 2026, the People's Court of Mengshan County delivered a verdict on the 'Xinguangyun' AI computing power pyramid Ponzi scheme: The project claimed investment from Malaysia's 'Xinguangyun' Technology Co., Ltd. Team leader Li directly recommended 10 people, directly or indirectly developed 90 lower-level members, spanning 8 tiers, with investors accumulating investments of approximately 6.1 million RMB. The court sentenced Li to two years and seven months in prison for the crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes, along with a fine of 200,000 RMB. (Source: [https://www.xiensuv.cn/article/16671/](https://www.xiensuv.cn/article/16671/))

Official Stance

• Project Home issued a major warning in 2025, pointing out that the fake VAST.AI Ponzi scheme was operated by overseas syndicates cloning brands for pyramid marketing, which had spread to multiple regions, reminding investors to be wary of AI concept Ponzi risks.
• The anti-fraud network published an expose in 2025 revealing that after Aqi AI collapsed, the team reformed under a new shell, practicing distribution Ponzi schemes under the guise of the AI trend, warning investors to identify and stay away from such projects.
• Project Home issued an urgent warning in 2025, calling out the BINANCE mining scam infringing on Binance's name for absorbing funds with 4% daily returns and GHO shitcoins, reminding investors never to transfer funds to unofficial channels.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify project party identity: Check financing information and team authenticity through corporate registry databases or official announcements. Treat cloned or highly imitation names as high risk, and do not blindly trust roadshow videos and news screenshots forwarded in communities.
• ✅ Verify on-chain data: Check token contract addresses, holder distribution, and liquidity pool status on blockchain explorers. Once it is found that the top ten addresses hold too high a proportion or tokens can be inflated, immediately stop investing and exit.
• ✅ Reject recruitment models: Any project whose main source of income relies on multi-tier rebates, differential rewards, or developing downlines—regardless of whether it is packaged as AI or any other concept—should be treated as a pyramid Ponzi scheme and neither participated in nor shared.
• ✅ Choose compliant channels: Trade only on licensed exchanges and regular channels, do not participate in OTC private transfers and self-built platform top-ups, test withdrawals with small amounts first, and immediately cut losses and retain evidence to report to public security organs if restrictions are discovered.