Let's take a look at a batch of investment projects like this: central digital currency, digital economy elderly care... So, how about it? Doesn't it look quite impressive? And if someone then tells you, "The funds for this project mainly come from the state and are a state secret—never tell outsiders. As long as you invest, you'll get returns of hundreds or even thousands of times in the future." Would you believe this kind of "national asset unfreezing" scam? In fact, this is an old trick that began in the early 1980s, and relevant authorities and media have repeatedly investigated and exposed it. So why does this sediment keep stirring up again and again? What kind of new disguises and rhetoric have these so-called investment projects adopted? What new tricks are there?

Several years ago, Master Lin in Zhangzhou, Fujian, learned from a friend that there was a very good investment project with a very high rate of return. Out of curiosity, Lin joined an investment group called "Glorious China." What the group promoted was a digital currency project, and it was made to seem very mysterious: each ID number could buy only one unit, the minimum was 100 yuan to start, the maximum investment allowed was only 1,000 yuan, and in half a year it could yield a 50-fold return. Lin was tempted and invested a total of 5,000 yuan using his own and his family members' ID cards.

Lin: "(The referrer claimed that) Chairman Zhang Jian had invested in digital currency for the state, the investment scale was quite large, and the returns were fast and high, so I put in several thousand yuan."

The Chairman Zhang Jian mentioned here had previously engaged in illegal pyramid selling, and the Wuxing Coin pyramid scheme he controlled involved more than a billion yuan. Not long after Lin invested, Zhang Jian was sentenced to 12 years in prison for pyramid selling. However, Lin's referrer, Jiang Mouliang, told Lin that Glorious China was a state secret project and that Zhang Jian's arrest and sentencing were actually part of a big game of chess being played by the state.

The state played a big game of chess and pretended to arrest Chairman Zhang Jian—this script is truly full of imagination. And Lin actually believed it. After joining the project group, Jiang Mouliang took the initiative to add Lin as a friend, answered his questions, and became Lin's upline.

High returns and protection by the state filled Lin with expectations for this project. But after waiting more than half a year, he had not seen a single cent of return on the 5,000 yuan he had invested. When Lin pressed for answers, Jiang Mouliang said the project was being carried out in secret and that returns would come only after it was listed, and he also asked Lin to continue making contributions to the state and to keep investing. So Lin successively invested more than 20,000 yuan. But three or four years passed, and not only was there no return, but he could not get back a single cent of his principal. In the end, Lin chose to report the case to the police.

Police investigation showed that the organizers of this fraud case were Xing Mouzhong and two others, all former backbone members of Zhang Jian's pyramid scheme organization. They found that rhetoric such as "state secret investment projects" easily won the trust of elderly people and was a fast way to make money, so the three set up their own operation and fabricated this national digital currency project to commit fraud. They had not been very confident at first, but unexpectedly, many people were duped.

Police said the "Glorious China" project was a national asset unfreezing-type scam. This type of fraud began in the 1980s. Scammers usually invoke the name of the state or the nation, forge official documents, certificates, and seals of state organs, fabricate relevant national policies, and invent fictitious projects to carry out fraud.

In recent years, this type of national asset unfreezing scam has acquired many new variations and shown new characteristics. Scammers also know how to follow social hot topics, fabricating project names related to fields such as charity, poverty alleviation, elderly care, and technological innovation, and using new online social tools to recruit people. But it is the same old medicine in a new bottle; the only purpose is to swindle money.

Chen Shiqu, deputy director and first-level inspector of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security: "In the context of Internet Plus, national asset unfreezing scams have been continuously upgraded and have incorporated some criminal methods from telecom and online fraud. First, the hidden financiers hide overseas and remotely direct domestic agents to promote and carry out fraud projects. In the recently emerged new-type national asset unfreezing fraud projects such as Yunshumao, Zhitian Finance, Intelligent Manufacturing, and Made in China, the behind-the-scenes gangs and hideouts are all concealed overseas. Second, they use online groups such as WeChat groups and QQ groups, or channels such as Tencent Meeting and DingTalk meetings, to develop downlines. Project promotion and brainwashing training spread like a virus and form fission-style expansion in a short time. Third, they develop fake project apps and use technologies such as AI face-swapping and audio-video editing to forge photos with national leaders or speech audio and video, packaging and building momentum for the fraud projects."

In May 2023, the Zhangzhou Public Security Bureau closed in on the "Glorious China" project fraud case, arresting 17 backbone members. The total amount involved exceeded 200 million yuan, and victims were spread across many parts of the country, totaling more than 10,000 people. Investigation showed that this fraud gang was tightly organized, with five levels of agents, who recruited people offline through acquaintances and received corresponding rewards. Agents at all levels could share a 20 percent commission and could also receive corresponding rewards based on performance, but most of the funds went to the three behind-the-scenes organizers.

These new types of national asset scams also share some common characteristics. For example, the number of participants is large; a single project may involve tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people. The amounts involved are large: although each investment is small, the hidden financiers make huge profits. In addition, project cycles are short; from the start of promotion to the final closure, it usually lasts only two to three months. After the original project ends, the fraud gang launches a new one.

In Jilin Province, another national asset scam involved less than 30 yuan per transaction, yet within a few months the number of victims reached as many as 50,000. In September 2023, the Panshi Public Security Bureau in Jilin received a tip that local resident Dong Mouyu and family members were suspected of participating in a national asset unfreezing-type scam.

Kang Liang, instructor of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Panshi Public Security Bureau, Jilin: "Through the people who bought the equity certificates, we learned that this was a project in which an investment of 29.9 yuan could yield a return of 1.1 million yuan."

This equity certificate sounds quite intimidating. It claimed to be one of the state's "14th Five-Year Plan" projects, called the Digital Economy Elderly Care Enterprise Strategy. Investors only needed to spend 29.9 yuan to buy this equity certificate and could obtain a high return of 1.1 million yuan within one year. Turn 29.9 yuan into 1.1 million yuan within a year—a full 36,000-fold increase. This pie falling from the sky was simply too big. But although absurd, many people were still willing to believe it.

Panshi police investigation found that the equity certificates sold by Dong Mouyu's online store were actually shipped from Yantai, Shandong. Police immediately went to Yantai. Dong Mouyu, Wu Moulong, and another gang participant, Liu Mouxiang, had likewise discovered that such fraud labels could make money quickly, so together they fabricated this "14th Five-Year Plan Digital Economy Elderly Care" project to commit fraud. But why do people always believe such fantastic money-making myths and spend money to buy in? Behind this, the scammers put a lot of thought.

Suspect Dong Mouyu: "We needed something to rely on to make more people believe this was real and attract more people to buy the contracts, so we scraped some red-header documents from the internet, spliced them together, and fabricated some facts."

This so-called red-header document of the General Office of the State Council was a fake document synthesized by the fraud gang. Even the title of the document contained obviously erroneous wording, yet it still fooled many people. The scammers also invented a nonexistent department in the document called the Central Decision Department for the Digital Economy. Liu Mouxiang gave herself the title of Minister of the Central Decision Department for the Digital Economy of the State Council, and also forged photos of herself with national leaders, which were widely publicized through WeChat groups, QQ groups, video pages, and other channels.

To make investors more immersed in this false context, the fraud organizers solemnly required everyone to abide by various strict rules.

Feng Zhihe, squadron leader of the Third Squadron of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Panshi Public Security Bureau, Jilin: "In fact, these were carefully designed talking points to be more confusing and appear more real. They played the emotional card of patriotism, requiring participants not to buy foreign products and only to buy domestic goods, which made it even easier to confuse large numbers of elderly people."

52-year-old Ms. Chen was misled by this rhetoric and, on a friend's recommendation, spent 29.9 yuan to buy an equity certificate. However, after the deadline stipulated in the contract expired, she did not see a single cent of the promised 1.1 million yuan. Chen asked several times, and her upline just told her to wait. It was not until police intervened that Chen, like many victims, learned it was a scam, but she did not choose to report it to police. The investment amount of 29.9 yuan was precisely set after careful consideration by the scammers.

Lu Shaobin, police officer of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Panshi Public Security Bureau, Jilin: "Because many victims thought 29.9 yuan was a relatively small amount, even if they were cheated they would not choose to report it to police. In addition, the suspects thought that since the amount of each fraud was only 29.9 yuan, public security organs might not investigate the matter in depth."

To keep victims from reporting to police, the scammers also fabricated rhetoric such as "strictly keep secrets for the state," and many victims actually believed it. Even when police came to their door, they were unwilling to admit they had participated in the investment.

Police said that in such fraud cases, the victims are mainly middle-aged and elderly people, especially those over 60. Their information sources are relatively closed, and they crave social interaction, making them more vulnerable to being tricked.

Since 2023, the Ministry of Public Security has deployed public security organs nationwide to strike hard, successfully dismantling a number of national asset unfreezing fraud gangs. A total of more than 260 cases have been solved, more than 180 criminal gangs have been dismantled, and the amount involved reached 1.5 billion yuan, achieving notable results. At the same time, a special campaign for the whole of 2024 has been deployed to resolutely combat national asset fraud crimes. Public security organs also remind the public, especially middle-aged and elderly people, to strengthen their awareness of fraud prevention.

National projects, state secrets, red-header documents of the State Council—lawbreakers have no bottom line in forgery and stop at nothing. But no matter how things change, no matter how these people change their disguises, fabricate rhetoric, or invent concepts, one thing will never change: they want you to pay. The cases in this program also share another characteristic: the amount invested at one time is relatively small, which makes many people lower their guard and think that even if they are cheated, they will not lose much money. But it is precisely this mentality that allows lawbreakers to succeed again and again. For this type of crime, on the one hand, relevant departments, platforms, and enterprises must intensify efforts to combat and prevent it; on the other hand, the public themselves must improve their ability to identify it and not harbor any sense of luck. As the old saying goes, pies do not fall from the sky, but traps on the ground are quite likely.