VAST.AI Fake AI Ponzi Scheme Swindles 1 Billion in Cryptocurrency

Who Gets Targeted

Victims are primarily professional women and internet industry workers aged 23 to 45, concentrated in Hubei, Yunnan, and Jiangxi. They were lured into a fake 'VAST.AI' investment app through social media groups and offline promotions. This demographic often lacks the ability to distinguish between AI computing power leasing and blockchain technical details, making them susceptible to claims of 'AI unicorn endorsement' and 'low investment, high daily returns, guaranteed profit.' Driven by wishful thinking, they followed the trend and deposited USDT. The platform set tiered investment levels, starting from a minimum of 500 USDT up to 59,880 USDT. Once funds were deposited via cross-chain USDT transfers, they became unrecoverable, leaving members with nothing when the platform collapsed (victim accounts have not been independently verified).

骗局怎么运作

• Promotion Phase: Operators use WeChat and QQ groups to release project briefs, claiming to perform 'high-frequency trading' on blockchain assets using AI algorithms, while sharing celebrity endorsements to build credibility.
• Immersion Phase: They provide so-called 'hot-selling white papers' and 'project roadshow' videos, framing all benefits as technical solutions and algorithmic models while concealing the actual operational mode, inducing investors to buy in via coin gifts or investments.
• Dividend 'Design': A tiered reward structure is set up, using terms like 'staking funds' or 'smart contract returns' to provide early investors with substantial Ponzi-style dividends, encouraging them to recruit new members.
• Recruitment Mechanism: Using 'invitation rewards' and 'team commissions,' members are tempted to constantly bring in friends and family, forming a multi-level pyramid scheme based on headhunting.
• Liquidation Phase: Once user investment reaches a certain threshold, operators pause dividend distributions, gradually silence members, block accounts, and eventually exit completely, leaving investors with total losses.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 No official certification; the project uses a company name that confuses it with legitimate AI firms.
• 🚩 Earnings claims conflate 'algorithmic prediction' with 'smart contracts' and lack verifiable code.
• 🚩 High 'dividend' schemes differ significantly from public project returns and are often announced only within private groups.
• 🚩 Requiring members to recruit others to receive earnings; such multi-level dividend systems cannot be legally implemented on a blockchain.
• 🚩 The project frequently updates its company list, which does not match actual registration information.

真实案例

• VAST.AI fake AI Ponzi scheme involves 1 billion RMB
• NPC 'air coin' scheme involves 50,000 members
• AIC Lobster Consensus Protocol listed as a pure 'air coin' scam
• In November 2020, the Yancheng Intermediate People's Court in Jiangsu Province issued a final ruling on the PlusToken digital currency pyramid scheme. The platform had 2.693 million registered accounts, involved 14.8 billion RMB, and 15 individuals were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 to 11 years. (Source: http://blockchain.people.com.cn/n1/2020/1201/c417685-31951069.html)
• In March 2022, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau's Economic Crime Investigation Corps, in coordination with the Yangpu Branch, cracked Shanghai's first case of online pyramid schemes using virtual currency. The platform absorbed funds under the guise of promoting blockchain technology and providing virtual currency appreciation services, arresting over 10 suspects and involving over 100 million RMB. (Source: https://jrj.sh.gov.cn/zwdt-fxts-jgdt/20220316/21f0048b26a34b8ab1b878239481d276.html)

Official Stance

• People's Bank of China and China Securities Regulatory Commission, 2026-02-06, issued the 'Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks Related to Virtual Currency' (Q&A) (Source: https://www.csrc.gov.cn/csrc/c100028/c7614320/content.shtml)

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Before investing in any project, verify whether it is registered with national financial regulatory platforms, especially for blockchain and financial products.
• ✅ Attempt to compare the project's claimed algorithms with actual implementations via official APIs or public code repositories; avoid blindly trusting advertised technical advantages.
• ✅ Stay vigilant against any project promising high short-term returns, dividends, or team commissions; it is recommended to only invest amounts you can afford to lose.
• ✅ If you have already participated in such a project, report it immediately to local public security and market regulatory authorities to assist in asset recovery and prevent further spread.