Fake AI Computing Center Custody Ponzi Scheme: 110,000 Members Scammed Out of Over 100 Million Yuan Before Operators Locked Funds and Fled

Who Gets Targeted

The primary victims are middle-aged and elderly investors as well as some lower-tier market retail investors who lack basic knowledge of blockchain and underlying computing power technology, yet are eager to secure high-yield returns through emerging technologies. They are easily intimidated by high-sounding terms such as intelligent computing centers and AI computing power custody. Their psychological vulnerabilities lie in their blind trust in national computing power infrastructure projects and an extreme craving for stable, high returns amid inflation anxiety. Ultimately, driven by herd mentality and the lure of daily rebates, they invest all their principal.

骗局怎么运作

• Packaged intelligent computing center projects, by forging corporate filing information and riding the coattails of well-known blockchain companies, claiming to possess large-scale AI computing power clusters and using support for national computing power infrastructure to boost credibility, attracting the attention and participation of investors interested in computing power assetization.
• Launched computing power custody dividend products, requiring users to subscribe to computing power nodes by shares, promising monthly yields as high as 10% to 30%, far exceeding normal returns in the computing power leasing market, and luring victims to invest principals ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan with tactics such as guaranteed principal and returns, and daily rebates.
• Established a multi-level recruitment MLM mechanism, encouraging existing participants to develop downlines, promising commission percentages based on downline investment amounts across tiers, building a massive capital pool dividend network, using new investors' principal to pay old investors' interest, and manufacturing the illusion of continuous profitability and endless growth.
• Set up numerous obstacles in the withdrawal process, initially allowing small withdrawals to build trust, but when the capital pool reaches a certain scale or new capital inflows slow down, using excuses such as system upgrades, computing power maintenance, or rule violations to restrict withdrawals, forcibly extending lock-up periods and imposing various penalties and unfreezing mechanisms.
• Ultimately, the operators transfer funds behind the scenes, shut down the platform, and destroy evidence; the official website and social media groups simultaneously stop updating. The so-called intelligent computing center does not possess any physical computing power equipment, and the so-called AI computing power returns are a complete capital pool game, leaving participants utterly abandoned with no recourse to recover their rights.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Promising fixed high returns that defy market common sense, such as monthly yields exceeding 10%, while claiming absolute guaranteed principal and returns with zero risk.
• 🚩 The project party cannot provide real physical addresses of computing power server rooms, equipment procurement lists, or third-party verifiable computing power test reports.
• 🚩 Returns heavily rely on recruiting downlines and developing offline agents, exhibiting obvious multi-level rebate structures and MLM fission characteristics, with endless conferences and investment promotion events.
• 🚩 Encountering inexplicable fund lock-ups, indefinite delays in system maintenance during withdrawals, or being required by the platform to pay additional unfreezing fees and margins before withdrawing remaining principal.
• 🚩 Website servers are mostly located overseas, lacking domestic regular value-added telecommunications business operation licenses, let alone blockchain information service filing numbers issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China.

真实案例

• According to reports from Panxun.com, a joint intelligent computing center custody dividend capital pool operating under the guise of computing power custody recruited 110,000 members, with operators scamming over 100 million yuan. Eventually, withdrawals were disabled, leading to a total collapse and flight of the operators, leaving numerous victims with worthless pensions and struggling to defend their rights.
• According to reports from Stock Info Net, Zhongshengming Quantitative operated under the banner of AI quantitative wealth management and computing power appreciation, attracting investors to invest principal with promises of high returns. This ultimately resulted in complete lock-up and inability to withdraw funds. The Shenzhen Public Security Bureau has officially launched an investigation, with estimated funds involved exceeding 300 million yuan.
• According to warnings from Piyao.com, the Zhilian Shuke project counterfeited the well-known blockchain enterprise Hangzhou趣链 Technology (TrueChain), renamed itself as a capital pool to continue its scams, engaging in secondary harvesting by combining computing power and digital currency speculation under a new guise, causing massive losses for uninformed retail investors.

Official Stance

• In April 2022, the National Internet Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association, and the Securities Association of China jointly issued an initiative on preventing NFT-related financial risks, explicitly prohibiting the use of virtual currency, blockchain, and computing power concepts as gimmicks for disguised illegal fund-raising or token issuance financing.
• In 2024, cyberspace administrations and public security economic investigation departments in various regions jointly issued risk warnings, reminding the public to be vigilant against new types of online investment capital pool scams disguised under high-tech facades such as AI computing power custody and virtual currency quantification, emphasizing that any computing power investment promising fixed high returns is suspected of being a Ponzi scheme.
• In 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China, in accordance with relevant regulations, investigated and cracked down on multiple non-compliant websites suspected of criminal operation of AI large model API interfaces and computing power leasing, clarifying that unfiled computing power virtualization speculation severely disrupts market order and is suspected of financial fraud.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify enterprise qualifications: Verify the background of the computing power enterprise claimed by the project party through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. Beware of false registration projects that use front companies or impersonate well-known technology enterprises, and do not blindly trust terminology stacked in promotional brochures. Further check whether the registered address matches the server room location, and whether the paid-in capital can support the claimed cabinet scale. If addresses do not match or registered capital is abnormally low, directly classify it as an air project.
• ✅ Verify underlying assets: Require the project party to provide verifiable computing power equipment procurement vouchers, real-time server room monitoring video access, or third-party independent audit reports. If physical hardware proof cannot be provided, it is extremely likely to be a fake air project.
• ✅ Reject high-yield temptations: Recognize the true return rates of the computing power leasing market. Any investment project promising monthly yields exceeding 10% with claims of guaranteed principal and returns matches the core characteristics of illegal fund-raising and Ponzi schemes, and should be resolutely rejected and avoided.
• ✅ Report to police promptly to stem losses: Once the platform shows withdrawal difficulties, widespread lock-ups, or uses system maintenance as an excuse, immediately stop adding investments, preserve chat records, transfer vouchers, and app interface screenshots, and report the case to the economic investigation department of the local public security organs at the earliest opportunity.