Author | Zhang Jilong Editor | An Xin
"My parents and I were cheated by more than 400,000 yuan," investor Wang Yue said on the phone. "I don't know what to do."
After confirming that the "mining machine" he bought turned into a pile of scrap iron, Wang Yue's family fell into a sudden disaster and his life fell into endless darkness.
Wang Yue is not the only victim. In Anhui, Henan, Sichuan, Jiangsu and other places, a large number of investors have also fallen into the pain of wealth loss. According to some investors' estimates, in Hefei alone, there are three or four hundred people involved in the "mining machine" scam, involving hundreds of millions of yuan.
While concepts such as bitcoin and blockchain are gradually becoming popular, there are more and more fraud incidents related to it, and scams are becoming more and more complicated and hidden, making it more difficult to prevent.
Take the "mining machine" scam as an example. It is a trap that is not subtle in appearance, but deeply understands the operating rules of civil society in China. It starts with the disposal of private debts and radiates outward based on the acquaintance relationship chain. The whole process combines the new concept of cryptocurrency mining as a gimmick, and many investors are unknowingly defrauded of huge amounts of money.
Faced with this new scam, not only many investors don't know how to deal with it, but also they are in a blank or lagging state in terms of policies and regulations, which undoubtedly increases the complexity of the whole situation.
"Redefining the Internet Wealth Pattern"
2018101On October 29th, Sheraton Zhengzhou Hotel ushered in an extraordinary event.
This conference has a very long and awkward name-"2065438+08 First (International) Innovation and Technology Festival in Central Plains Silicon Valley and Kick-off Meeting of Cai Rich List", and the organizer is called "Central Plains Silicon Valley Innovation and Technology Industrial Park".
Now using the name of this forum as a keyword, the results show that two widely recognized names have been highlighted in many subsequent press releases-the first name is Hurun, the founder of Hurun Report, and the second name is Semiconductor Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
As a matter of fact, all the participants know that Hurun and the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are only supporting roles in this meeting. The real core of this conference was two other names that were completely unfamiliar to the outside world at that time: a virtual currency called Cai and a mining machine called Snail Star Server.
According to the news report at that time, Hurun himself attended the meeting and delivered a speech, "witnessing the launch of the research and development of the only storage application ecological CAI in the world." In this regard, all-weather technology has contacted the public relations department of Hurun Report for verification, but as of press time, it has not received a reply.
The media reported that Hurun made a speech at the meeting.
At that time, at this meeting, the chip R&D Center of Semiconductor Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences held an unveiling ceremony.
What is the origin of this "Central Plains Silicon Valley Innovation and Technology Industrial Park"? What is Cai and Snail Star Server?
In fact, if you search for "Central Plains Silicon Valley" or "Central Plains Silicon Valley Innovation and Technology Industrial Park" in the industrial and commercial information system, you will find that there is no such company or institution. According to investors, the real name of this so-called Central Plains Silicon Valley is Henan Lianxin Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Lianxin Company").
On the Internet, the information dimension of virtual currency named Cai is also extremely single. This mysterious virtual currency first appeared on 20181June 10, when several vertical media reported the news that Cai was on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Even among investors, few people know what Cai Coin is-is it an abbreviation of three English words or Chinese Pinyin? Who is the issuer of this coin? Do you have a white paper? Many investors expressed their confusion.
At this conference, the prospect of Cai coins of unknown origin was described as extremely attractive. Many news reports of this conference said that it "will be the next export of the development of contemporary Internet technology, redefining the wealth pattern of the Internet." In order to stimulate the enthusiasm of the participants, Zhongyuan Silicon Valley also signed a strategic cooperation with Hurun Report, and the two sides launched the Cai Rich List.
As another focus of the conference, the "Snail Star Server" mining machine was also grandly launched. "The sooner you choose the snail server as the user of the city node, the more CAI you can get at a lower cost." There is an article on the internet describing the prospect of this mining machine, saying that "in the future, you will enjoy the huge dividend brought by the whole ecological development, so you will have the opportunity to become a member of Cai's rich list."
An important highlight of this machine, which is claimed to be jointly developed by Zhongyuan Silicon Valley and Beijing IPFS Laboratory, is that it can dig two virtual currencies at the same time. "This is a double-digging machine, producing both Cai and Cai tokens at the same time." A mining machine buyer said that the mining machine company publicized at that time that users could dig Cai before the token Filecoin went online, and after the Filecoin went online, users could dynamically switch according to the principle of maximizing income, forming a double-digging of Cai and Filecoin.
In the eyes of the above-mentioned buyers, this kind of publicity is very attractive. Although no one has heard of Cai Coin, Filecoin is a well-known mainstream virtual currency. "I certainly don't want to dig this currency (Cai), but I still know a little."
"Return to the capital in two months, zero risk, lying down to make money" is the slogan that Wang Yue called Snail Star server mining machine.
A promotional material provided by the sales staff of mining machines to Wang Yue said that the more investors buy mining machines, the more money each machine digs every day. A computer produces 47 CAI's per day, 100 computers produce 70 CAI's per day, and 1000 computers produce 80 CAI's per day.
This information gives investors an account: the price of each mining machine is 5875 yuan, and the service life is three to five years. According to the value of each Cai coin at that time, if 1.40 yuan was invested, the total investment was 587,500, and the monthly return was as high as 294,000. This means that investors can fully recover their funds in less than two months. "It can be sold and realized at any time in 24 hours, with one investment and permanent benefit".
Wang Yue also found that the price of this Cai coin has been rising. After the launch of an exchange named AT, the price of the currency rose by nearly 80% on the first day, from the initial 50 cents to 1.4 yuan, and then to 2 yuan.
With the rise of currency price, investors represented by Wang Yue began to buy mining machines in large quantities. Wang Yue said that he bought 85 mining machines. "At first, he only bought 10. Later, with the rise of the currency price, he slowly added the machine."
According to the price of 5875 yuan for a mining machine, Wang Yue invested nearly 500,000 yuan. But compared with other investors, this money is not worth mentioning. "I am one of the people who put in the least," said Wang Yue. People who invest one or two million are everywhere. As far as she knows, "an aunt invested 76 million."
For investors like Wang Yue, investing huge sums of money is the seed. They hope that they can occupy a place in the process of changing the wealth pattern, but these hopes have failed.
"The money is gone."
All dreams about wealth came to an abrupt end on February 9, 2009/kloc-0.
On this day, investors received two announcements from AT Exchange and Lianjiaxin Company respectively. AT exchange said that due to the hacker attack on the platform, a large number of QD coins were lost and evaporated, and trading was suspended. The freezing time is about 3 months. All transaction wallet systems are closed, and cash withdrawal is suspended.
Announcements of AT Exchange and Lian Xin Company provided by informants.
Lianjiaxin Company announced that on February 7, the company's senior management participated in a roadshow in Silicon Valley, USA. In the future, all mining machines will be taken over by Silicon Valley, and Cai servers will all participate in new projects worth tens of billions of dollars in Silicon Valley.
For investors, these two announcements have released a strong signal: as the only exchange of Cai coins, the suspension of trading means that all coins cannot be circulated, while the company's announcement means that the company's senior management team has gone to the United States instead of China.
"This means collapse," said one investor, but most people find it hard to accept this reality. Because on 65438+1October 3 1 day, before the transaction was stopped, Hefei xinkunbo technology co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as xinkunbo company), a subsidiary of Zhongyuan silicon valley, also issued a price adjustment notice, saying that it had received a notice from the headquarters that each machine of the mining machine would be raised by 3,000 yuan from February 1 1 day. Many investors hoard machines to avoid rising prices.
However, Wang Yue believes that this incident has already appeared in June 65438+1October: On the previous June 25, 65438+/KLOC-0, AT Exchange issued an announcement about stopping the trading of Cai coins, on the grounds that the system was maintained and upgraded, and it was impossible to trade; According to the announcement, trading will resume after February 20 19 1 day. Around this time, the price of Cai coins has been falling, from 2 yuan to 56 points, and "the lowest price has dropped to 7 points", but even this price has not been sold.
By the end of February, even the most determined investors began to feel that the problem was not that simple. Not only the website and APP of AT Exchange can't be opened, but also the coin-digging app can't be opened.
Photo courtesy of reporters
"The executives of mining machine sales companies also began to disappear. The phone is not answered, the information is not returned, and no one can be found. " Wang Yue said that at the same time, a terrible rumor was circulating among investors: the boss of Lian Xin Company had fled to the United States, and the senior executives of the new Kunbo Company finally shared the investors' money.
Wang Yue calculated it himself. He probably lost more than 400 thousand by subtracting the money he bought the machine from the money he sold it back to the original factory. Luckily for her, many people didn't sell any coins. "The worst thing is that some people have just received the machine, and even haven't received the machine yet, Cai coins can't be traded."
At present, no one can tell how many investors and funds are involved in the plunge of Cai Coin. According to an investor's estimation, as many as 300 to 400 people buy mining machines in Hefei, Anhui Province alone.
According to the sales statistics of Zhongyuan Silicon Valley Hefei Operation Center (Hefei Xinkunbo Technology Co., Ltd.) in February 2065438+2008, in February alone, the company sold as many as 13747 sets of mining machines, with sales reaching more than 73 million yuan. "There should be more machines actually sold, because many of them are not registered on this form." A former employee of the company revealed.
And this may be just the tip of the iceberg. Wang Yue estimated that the stock of mining machines in Hefei alone should be around 30,000. But Hefei is only an operation center of Silicon Valley in the Central Plains, and its real headquarters is in Zhengzhou. "There should be more victims there." Wang Yue believes that in addition, some people in Hubei, Sichuan and Jiangsu also buy mining machines.
Some people in the circle speculate that the funds involved in this mining machine may be around 2 billion. Cai did not redefine the wealth pattern of the Internet, but changed the fate of many people and families.
All-weather technology has learned that among investors, two groups have suffered heavy losses.
The first group is middle-aged and elderly people. Many investors have mentioned that investors in mining machines have a significant similarity, that is, they are older, mostly elderly people. An investor told all-weather technology that he estimated that the average age of the victims was over 50, "70-80 years old".
These old people have accumulated a certain amount of wealth, or their families are above the well-off level. Many people who participate in investment say that their family is in business, or they are investing with their savings for many years.
Another group that suffered heavy losses was the sales staff of mining machines represented by Mars (a pseudonym). In fact, they are both sellers and investors of mining machines.
Yi Lee said that many sales not only sold mining machines, but also bought many mining machines themselves. She only bought 30 mining machines herself, while many colleagues around her bought hundreds or even hundreds. After the crash of Cai currency, they not only lost all their money, but even many people owed huge debts.
She said that many salespeople buy mining machines because of the "fudge" of company leaders. "We are confident to promote it. This building is ours." The leaders said that they even encouraged employees to borrow money to buy mining machines themselves. "If relatives and friends feel distrustful, they can guarantee their house and car."
With the encouragement of the company, some sales really mortgaged houses and cars. A friend around me took his house as collateral, raised money 1 10,000 yuan and bought more than 300 machines. Now that the money market has collapsed, we have to pay the bank more than 40 thousand yuan a month. "There is no way out."
Mysterious "Friends" and "Debt Relief" Mode
Paradoxically, for some elderly people who can't even use smart phones, why should they participate in the blockchain project that many young people can't understand?
Yi Lee believes that a big reason why many elderly people participate in it is the mutual introduction of relatives and friends.
Many investors said that they became friends with the executives of mining machinery sales companies because of a business called "debt settlement". According to their confirmation, the predecessor of Hefei Operation Center in Central Plains Silicon Valley (Xin Kunbo Company) was a debt relief company named "Anhui Guotai Zhonghe SME Economic Information Consulting Co., Ltd.". On October 20 18 165438 10, the company changed its name, stopped engaging in debt settlement business and turned to mining machine business. "Except that the name has changed, the leader is exactly the same as the old employees inside."
According to investors, Anhui Guotai Zhonghe SME Economic Information Consulting Co., Ltd. started its business from about 20 17, and it took about two years to solve the debt, and there was no problem before.
Li Ying's parents met the company's senior manager "Mei Zong" when they paid their debts. At first, they wanted to pay off the debt of 30 thousand yuan with a grain of salt. Later, they had trust in the company and paid more debts one after another.
20 18 12 under the introduction of "general manager mei", Li ying went to work in xinkunbo company, and her main job was to sell mining machines. According to a job advertisement, the company was recruiting at a high salary at that time, and "you can get more than 50,000 yuan if you work hard for one month". She said that in addition to the basic salary, there is also a commission for the sales of mining machines, which is 6% for each of less than 50 sets, 7% for 50 sets to 100 sets, and 8% for more than 100 sets.
For such a job, at first, Li Yi was full of gratitude to General Manager Mei. At the same time, Yi Lee noticed that many newly recruited sales were introduced by acquaintances like himself, and many of these acquaintances were executives or old employees of the original debt-solving company.
It is understood that the so-called debt relief is a private debt treatment method that has emerged in recent years. The specific technique is very mysterious. Yi Lee explained, "For example, if someone owes you a debt of 654.38+million yuan, but the other party still doesn't pay it back, you can take this debt of 654.38+million yuan to the debt relief company, and you can give the company another 654.38+million yuan, and pay you a part of the money every month, totaling 200,000 yuan a year.
As for debt relief companies, where did the money come from? Few people know that a creditor told all-weather technology that she had asked the other party this question, and the other party just said, "Don't worry, the funds must be 100% safe."
All-weather technology has found that in recent years, "debt banks" with debt settlement as their business have gradually emerged all over the country. They do business in various fields plagued by debt disputes, claiming to solve debt problems for enterprises and individuals.
Debtor banks usually claim that they use business actuarial model to realize debt cycle and help enterprises and individuals entering debt crisis to reduce and reduce their debts by constructing debt chain. However, according to a person who knows more about the debt bank model, in fact, this model has strong Ponzi scheme and pyramid scheme characteristics.
In some media, there are also reports that so-called debt relief companies cheat. The debtor paid the money and returned to the debt relief company for only a few months and there was no news. On the internet, this model of debt settlement company has caused great controversy. "The debt resolution model is a scam, similar to Ponzi scheme," a lawyer said in Zhihu. "From a legal point of view, this kind of institution is illegal."
Based on the above situation, some people think that the so-called snail interstellar mining machine is a game that has been laid out for many years: using the debt-solving company as a tool to gain the trust of investors, and then using the mining machine to carry out the last wave of steady and ruthless harvest.
It is also speculated that this mining machine fraud may not be designed in advance, but the Ponzi scheme of debt settlement mode has come to an end, and the bubble is to burst and is used to throw pots.
be in the background
Looking back at the whole chain, from producers and sellers of mining machines to entrusted mines and exchanges, some investors said that this scam may have been carefully compiled by a group headed by Huo Dong from beginning to end.
Who's Huo Dong? Enterprise survey shows that there are 18 companies under Huodong Banner, including Henan Antai Zhonghe Property Rights Trading Consulting Group Co., Ltd. and Henan Lianxiang Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Lianxiang Company).
Huodong Qixia Company, Image Source: Enterprise Check
According to the data, Huo Dong himself is inseparable from the debt-solving business and mining machine business mentioned above.
Take the debt settlement business as an example. On the one hand, he is the executive director of Anhui Guotai Zhonghe SME Economic Information Consulting Co., Ltd., and on the other hand, Henan Antai Zhonghe Property Rights Trading Consulting Group Co., Ltd., the chairman, is also suspected of debt settlement company.
According to media reports, Henan Antai Zhonghe Property Rights Trading Consulting Group Co., Ltd. held a press conference on 20 1 17 10/9, and announced the formal establishment of Henan Antai Group Company. At the press conference, Huo Dong, chairman of Antai Group, said, "While solving the problem of creditor's rights and debts, Antai has integrated resources with real estate and automobiles to build a platform for non-performing assets optimization and cultural industry value, to help realize the withdrawal of funds and enable enterprises and individuals with failed investments to recover losses." On social media, there are also employees suspected of Antai Group who openly solicit debt relief business.
In the mining machinery business, Chain Xiang Company, where Huo Dong works, is the parent company of Chain Xin Company and also the manufacturer of mining machinery. Yi Lee believes that many people think that Lianjiaxiang is the real headquarters of the Central Plains Silicon Valley, because Lianjiaxin Company has a registered capital of only 5 million, while Lianjiaxiang Company has a registered capital of 50 million times that of the former 10.
In addition, there is evidence that Huo Dong and AT Exchange have a complicated relationship.
According to the data, the Singapore shareholder of the Digital Assets Exchange is a blockchain asset trading platform initiated by the Singapore Antai Foundation. According to the information displayed by Zhaopin, this so-called Singapore Antai Foundation is also one of the shareholders of Bitland (Shenzhen) Blockchain Co., Ltd. invested by Huodong. It can be seen that the so-called at exchange has a complicated relationship with Huodong and Lian Xin.
Introduction of Bitcontinental (Shenzhen) Blockchain Co., Ltd. Image source: Zhaopin.
In fact, according to enterprise survey information, Bitcontinent (Shenzhen) Blockchain Co., Ltd. has only two natural persons-Huo Dong holds 80% of the shares, and the other natural person shareholder Wang Zongjie holds 20%.
Interestingly, another shareholder of Bitland (Shenzhen) Blockchain Co., Ltd. mentioned in Zhaopin's recruitment is also tricky. The name of the company is similar to that of Sequoia Capital, a famous investment institution, but the public relations staff of Sequoia Capital confirmed to All Weather Technology that Sequoia Capital has nothing to do with this company.
This is not the only case in which the company invested by Huo Dong rubs its reputation. It is worth noting that in addition to investing in Bitcontinent (Shenzhen) Blockchain Co., Ltd., Huodong also invested in a company called Henan Bitcontinent Blockchain Co., Ltd. For these two companies whose names resemble the branches of the famous mining giant Bitcontinent, insiders of Bitcontinent explicitly denied any relationship between them.
In addition to Sequoia Capital and Bitland denying the relationship with the company invested by Huodong, All-weather Technology also contacted the Semiconductor Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which was mentioned in the previous press release.
A person from the Semiconductor Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told All-weather Technology that he had never cooperated with this company and denied that he had settled in the Silicon Valley of the Central Plains. "We are doing optoelectronics, not integrated circuits." He said that the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has never done any research on cryptocurrency.
All-weather technology also found that, in fact, at the end of February 20 18, 18, the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences posted a Statement on the False Report that the R&D Center of the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has settled in the Silicon Valley of the Central Plains, which mentioned that it has never participated in any cooperative construction project of the Silicon Valley of the Central Plains in the name of a unit, nor has it had any official negotiation and cooperation intention with this institution.
Statement of Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Image source: Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences
However, even if the Semiconductor Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences denied it, an investor received a sales speech showing that the Snail Star Server was a product jointly developed by the Silicon Valley Innovation and Technology Industrial Park of the Central Plains and the Semiconductor Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. In the previous news report, it was clearly stated that the mining machine was jointly developed by Zhongyuan Silicon Valley and Beijing IPFS Laboratory.
Speaking of this mining machine, it is even more strange that some investors and salespeople told all-weather technology that for a while, they found that this so-called mining machine could automatically mine without plugging in or surfing the Internet. For this off-line mining behavior, they suspect that "Cai coins are not dug out at all, but are automatically distributed by the system, and this machine is useless at all."
The real value of this mining machine with a price of 5875 yuan is also questioned. Wang Yue said that he found some knowledgeable people to estimate the price of this machine, and found that the mining machine was worthless, "the price is not higher than that of 800 yuan". In addition, it was found that some machines were refurbished after being dismantled.
Snail interstellar mining machine configuration, image source: WeChat official account "Coin Circle Conscience"
The new "reaper"
When the sadness of investors is not far away, and many people are still worried about how to get their money back, they find themselves ushered in a new harvester, and some people in the WeChat group have started the so-called rights protection business.
"Many people want to go to Henan head office to discuss or report to the police, but time and energy are not allowed, so some victims began to call on everyone to raise funds to solve the problem." Li Yi said that their charging standards are different, some according to the price of each 5 yuan, and some according to the price of 2 yuan/Taiwan.
Privately, many people are very dissatisfied with these charges. "Someone bought more than 10 machines and didn't lose much money. One machine is charged according to 5 yuan, and 20,000 to 30,000 machines have received more than 100,000. They also made a lot of money. "
Some people think that it is hard to say whether paid rights protection is useful. "The bosses have gone abroad, can you get the money back?" They felt desperate.
In addition to collecting rights protection fees, mining machines in the hands of victims have also become a hot topic in the eyes of some people. In some investors' WeChat groups, many people shouted to recycle mining machines, and the price of each machine was probably between 300 yuan and 350 yuan.
An investor who has sold mining machines said that many people who collect mining machines are businessmen who make computer accessories. The reason why they collect mining machines is actually because there is a 1TB hard disk and a 4G memory chip in the mining machine. In JD.COM, the cheapest price of a brand-new 1TB hard disk of Western Digital is 279 yuan, and the price of a 4G DDR3 memory is more than 100 yuan.
In addition to selling accessories, some people collect mining machines for other purposes. Although these mining machines are useless in the hands of these investors, they are very popular on the Internet because of their low prices. There are many articles circulating on the Internet that transform mining machines into low-power NAS (Network Attached Storage).
On Taobao and idle fish, there are also many people selling mining machines, and the sales volume seems to be not small.
Snail interstellar mining machine sales, image source: Taobao.
Betty Wong said that she had sold all her 85 mining machines. What makes her sad is that each machine bought at 5875 yuan sold at a scrap price in two months, but she felt that there was no better way. "I can't sell it myself, and these things at home are troublesome."
In addition, after Cai's dream of wealth was shattered, some new coins of all kinds came to your door. Some people encourage them to dig new coins or buy new mining machines to dig coins. But without exception, if you want to mine, you need to buy new mining machines or new coins. In a word, you need a lot of investment.
"We are embarrassed now, don't tell me these things," an investor shouted to a propagandist who advocated digging new coins. "As long as you pay the money, you will not participate in the future."
(Wang Yue and Li Yi are both pseudonyms. )