In today's rapidly developing digital economy, criminals are increasingly using technological innovation as a guise to implement scams involving new concepts such as virtual currencies and digital collectibles. Recently, the Shanghai Minhang District Prosecutor's Office disclosed a case of a new type of financial fraud that deceived victims under the pretext of investing in virtual currencies. The defendants, including Wu, during their operation of a certain e-commerce company in Shanghai, issued a worthless "air coin" GDFC, defrauding victims of over 35 million yuan, with numerous victims involved. This case not only reveals the concealment and complexity of new financial crimes but also serves as a warning to investors.
- 35 Million "Air Coin" Fraud Case: Financial Crime Disguised as "Tech Innovation"
Method of Operation: The defendants, including Wu, during their operation of a certain e-commerce company in Shanghai, promised victims that by paying a certain franchise fee to promote facial recognition payment devices, they could earn XD points as rewards from the company by promoting the devices or referring members. Subsequently, they set up an "open financial launch play," where victims needed to purchase four times the amount of GDFC virtual currency and bind it with XD points to cash out the gifted XD points.
False Promotion: Wu and others concealed the fact that GDFC was an "air coin" controlled and issued by their company, falsely claiming to victims that the coin was issued by an overseas company and had significant appreciation potential. They lured victims into purchasing large amounts of the company's GDFC coin by promising that they could cash out their XD points and later sell the coin at several times its purchase price for profit.
Continued Fraud: After no one continued to purchase, causing the price of GDFC virtual currency to plummet and become non-redeemable, Wu and others introduced "GM Fusion," claiming that GDFC coins could be converted into ME virtual currency through this rule. They organized personnel to inflate the price of ME coins, creating the illusion that GDFC coins would significantly appreciate after conversion through "GM Fusion," continuing to deceive victims into purchasing GDFC virtual currency.
Amount Involved and Victims: According to audits, Wu and others defrauded victims of over 35 million yuan using the aforementioned methods. The related funds flowed into the personal accounts of the involved individuals.
- Prosecutorial "Immersive" Case Handling: Breaking the "Digital Skin"
New Type of Financial Crime: This case is a new type of financial fraud that deceives victims under the guise of investing in virtual currencies. During the review and arrest phase, the Minhang District Prosecutor's Office conducted investigative experiments focusing on new concepts such as virtual currencies and the "metaverse," determining that the involved virtual currency was an "air coin" issued by the defendants without actual value, clarifying the transaction process and profit model of the involved virtual currency, and identifying the behavioral patterns of the case.
Full Chain Strike: The Minhang District Prosecutor's Office guided the public security authorities to conduct supplementary investigations around collecting victim statements, auditing victim losses, and tracing the flow of involved funds, ultimately determining that defendant Wu used virtual currency trading as a guise to deceive victims into investing and purchasing through fabricated facts and concealed truths, with the related funds flowing into the personal accounts of the involved individuals, constituting fraud. On February 14, 2025, the Minhang District Prosecutor's Office prosecuted him for fraud.
Prosecutor's Reminder: Activities related to virtual currencies are illegal financial activities prohibited by the state. Market operators and the public should strictly adhere to legal boundaries and refrain from participating in activities such as virtual currency issuance, trading, and promotion. Investors should remain vigilant about investment projects that use virtual currencies as a gimmick, enhance their self-protection awareness, and avoid being misled by promises of high returns, significant appreciation potential, and claims of issuance by well-known companies. They should not transfer funds to unknown platforms or easily participate in unfamiliar investment areas, safeguarding their "money bags" and jointly maintaining the safety and stability of the financial market.
- New Trends in Financial Crime: Closely Monitoring the Risk Boundaries of Tech Innovation Finance
Professionalization and Concealment of Criminal Methods: Currently, illegal fundraising crimes have become more professional and concealed, no longer simply "drawing a pie to gather money," but disguised as "elderly care industry," "film investment," and "virtual currency," using complex financial tools such as equity holding and income rights transfer to induce investors to participate through information asymmetry.
Frequent Occurrence of Composite Financial Crimes: Composite financial crimes such as "credit card fraud + loan fraud" and "bribery + money laundering" are on the rise. Criminals may forge "white household" provident fund records to fraudulently obtain credit cards for cash withdrawal, undermining the banking credit system and increasing the difficulty of credit assessment for small and micro tech innovation enterprises, leading to funds circulating in speculative areas and failing to reach the real demand side of the tech innovation industry.
New Type of Assistive Loan Financial "Black and Gray Industry": Criminal gangs often impersonate legitimate financial institutions or platforms, using "low-interest high-limit loans" to lure small and micro business owners who urgently need funds and lack professional financial knowledge into "criminal traps," increasing the financial burden on small tech innovation enterprises and even causing some businesses to break their capital chains, directly impacting technological innovation activities.
- Safeguarding Tech Innovation Finance: The Prosecutor's "Strike + Protection + Cooperation"
No Gaps in Punishing Crimes: The Minhang District Prosecutor's Office insists on "no gaps in punishing crimes, no overreach in safeguarding innovation," and will severely crack down on illegal financial activities disguised as tech innovation.
Full Chain Strike: The Minhang District Prosecutor's Office insists on a full chain strike against illegal fundraising cases in film investment and virtual currencies, simultaneously reviewing derivative crimes such as money laundering, and establishing a money laundering joint mechanism in cooperation with supervision and public security departments, signing cooperation memorandums, and implementing "double investigations for one case."
Enhancing Professional Capability: The Minhang District Prosecutor's Office has established a financial prosecution office to enhance prosecutors' capabilities in combating and handling new types of financial crimes deeply related to tech innovation fields such as blockchain and the metaverse through joint training and specialized discussions.
Extending Prosecutorial Functions: The office actively extends its prosecutorial functions, engaging in customized legal publicity in Hongqiao Fund Town and tech innovation parks, issuing prosecutorial suggestions to relevant departments based on risks identified during case handling, helping small tech innovation enterprises avoid financing traps, and striving to build a new highland for tech innovation in Minhang.
Conclusion:
The recent fraud case involving investment in virtual currencies disclosed by the Shanghai Prosecutor's Office once again reveals the concealment and complexity of financial crimes in the digital economy era. Criminals exploit new concepts such as virtual currencies, disguised as "tech innovation," to commit fraud, severely endangering the property safety of the public. The prosecutorial authorities, through "immersive" case handling and full chain strikes, are building a solid safety line for the development of tech innovation finance. Investors must remain vigilant, enhance their self-protection awareness, and avoid being misled by promises of high returns, significant appreciation potential, and claims of issuance by well-known companies, jointly maintaining the safety and stability of the financial market.
Related Reading: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Opens Channels for U.S. Citizens to Access Offshore Crypto Exchanges
Original Article: “Shanghai Exposes 35 Million Yuan Virtual Currency Fraud Case, ‘Air Coin’ GDFC Scams Over 2000 People”
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
