JuicyFields: European Cannabis Crowdfunding Electronic Greenhouse High-Yield Ponzi Scheme

Who Gets Targeted

The victims were mostly ordinary individual investors in Europe, primarily residents of Spain, Germany, Poland, and other countries, totaling over 186,000 people. They preferred stable high returns, had a vague confidence in the legalization trend of medical cannabis, and were attracted by real user earnings screenshots and small withdrawal success stories on social media. Many lacked an agricultural or financial background, making it difficult for them to verify the true operational status of the so-called electronic greenhouses. Encouraged by friend recommendations or influencer endorsements, they let down their guard, invested their savings or pensions into the platform, and ultimately found themselves unable to withdraw funds after the platform suddenly shut down.

骗局怎么运作

• The scammers established the JuicyFields platform in 2020, claiming its headquarters were in Berlin and Amsterdam. They heavily advertised on social media, using professionally produced promotional videos and pictures showcasing high-tech electronic greenhouses to trick investors into believing that genuine medical cannabis cultivation bases existed.
• The platform introduced a crowdgrowing model, guiding investors to start with hundreds of euros to purchase the cultivation rights of one or more cannabis plants, promising returns as high as 66% or even more within weeks to months, far exceeding the yields of ordinary financial products.
• Early investors were indeed able to receive rebates on time and successfully make withdrawals. These real returns were screenshot and shared in social media groups, creating a word-of-mouth effect. The platform encouraged users to invite friends to join, gradually scaling up investments from small trial amounts, with some victims even taking out loans or pulling in relatives and friends to invest together.
• The platform used funds from new investors to pay rebates to older investors, maintaining the illusion of high returns. In reality, there was no actual cannabis cultivation output; funds flowed among shell companies and personal accounts in multiple countries, and some were used to purchase luxury goods, real estate, and fund other illicit activities.
• In July 2022, the platform suddenly stopped withdrawals, closed its website, and customer service went dark. Subsequently, Europol and Eurojust intervened in the investigation. In April 2024, 9 suspects were simultaneously arrested across multiple countries, and assets such as bank accounts, cryptocurrencies, real estate, and luxury cars were frozen and seized.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Promising fixed high returns with almost no mention of cultivation risks, with annualized yields far exceeding the normal levels of legitimate agricultural investments.
• 🚩 Live-action videos and photos of the so-called electronic greenhouses cannot be independently verified, and the platform refuses to provide specific cultivation addresses or on-site visit opportunities.
• 🚩 Withdrawals were smooth initially, but later frequently encountered excuses such as system maintenance and audit delays, with customer service responses becoming increasingly perfunctory.
• 🚩 The platform relied excessively on user invitations and social media earnings posts to acquire new capital, rather than demonstrating actual sales revenue or financial reports.
• 🚩 The company's registered address does not match its actual operational location, it frequently changes corporate entities and payment channels, and it lacks formal financial regulatory licenses.

真实案例

• In July 2022, Spanish media EL PAÍS reported that a Spanish investor stated he and his friends lost a total of 50,000 euros, tens of thousands of people were involved in the scam locally, and some invested their life savings.
• Polish media Bankier.pl reported that the scam affected over 500,000 victims in Poland, with many misled by small withdrawal screenshots shown on social media, investing amounts ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of euros.
• In April 2024, Europol reported the arrest of 9 suspects across several European countries, seizing approximately 106 million euros in bank account funds, 260 million euros in cryptocurrency, as well as real estate, luxury cars, and luxury goods, confirming that the total amount involved exceeded 645 million euros. (Source: [https://www.cannareporter.eu/zh-CN/2024/04/12/%E6%AC%A7%E6%B4%B2%E5%88%91%E8%AD%A6%E7%BB%84%E7%BB%87%E5%92%8C%E6%AC%A7%E6%B4%B2%E5%8F%B8%E6%B3%95%E6%9C%BA%E6%9E%84%E6%8B%98%E7%95%99%E7%9A%84Juicy-Field%E6%A1%88%E4%BB%B69%E6%AC%BA%E8%AF%88%E9%87%91%E9%A2%9D%E8%B6%85%E8%BF%87645%E4%BA%BF%E6%AC%A7%E5%85%83/](https://www.cannareporter.eu/zh-CN/2024/04/12/%E6%AC%A7%E6%B4%B2%E5%88%91%E8%AD%A6%E7%BB%84%E7%BB%87%E5%92%8C%E6%AC%A7%E6%B4%B2%E5%8F%B8%E6%B3%95%E6%9C%BA%E6%9E%84%E6%8B%98%E7%95%99%E7%9A%84Juicy-Field%E6%A1%88%E4%BB%B69%E6%AC%BA%E8%AF%88%E9%87%91%E9%A2%9D%E8%B6%85%E8%BF%87645%E4%BA%BF%E6%AC%A7%E5%85%83/))
• In April 2024, cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes cited a Europol report stating that law enforcement arrested 9 suspects in the 'JuicyFields' cannabis investment scam investigation, freezing 4.7 million euros in bank accounts, 1.515 million euros in crypto assets, and 2.6 million euros in real estate, with 186,000 investors transferring funds into the scam between early 2020 and July 2022. (Source: [https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/04/cannabis-investment-scam-juicyfields-ends-in-9-arrests](https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/04/cannabis-investment-scam-juicyfields-ends-in-9-arrests))

Official Stance

• On April 12, 2024, Europol and Eurojust jointly reported that JuicyFields was a massive Ponzi scheme, having arrested 9 people and frozen a large amount of assets.
• In July 2022, German consumer protection agency Stiftung Warentest placed JuicyFields on its gray capital market warning list, reminding investors that the platform lacked effective regulation and transparent information.
• The National Securities Market Commission of Spain (CNMV) added JuicyFields to its warning list of unauthorized investment platforms, prohibiting it from soliciting clients in Spain.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify whether a platform holds a formal financial regulatory license by checking the target country's financial regulatory agency website; completely avoid any unauthorized investment platforms.
• ✅ Remain vigilant against investment returns that are significantly higher than market levels and omit discussion of risks, remembering that high yields are invariably accompanied by high risks.
• ✅ Demand that the platform provide independently verifiable cultivation base addresses, business licenses, and financial audit reports, refusing to make decisions based solely on promotional videos and social media screenshots.
• ✅ Do not add investments even if early withdrawals go smoothly; Ponzi schemes often provide real returns in the early stages to lure people into investing more funds.
• ✅ Immediately stop investing and preserve evidence such as transfer records and chat histories if you encounter blocked withdrawals or abnormal platform customer service, and report promptly to local police and financial regulatory agencies.