Sec Files Charges Over $14 Million Crypto Scam Using Fake Ai-themed...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against multiple companies for their alleged involvement in an elaborate cryptocurrency scam that swindled more than $14 million from retail investors.

The complaint charged crypto asset trading platforms Morocoin Tech Corp., Berge Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd., and Cirkor Inc., as well as investment clubs AI Wealth Inc., Lane Wealth Inc., AI Investment Education Foundation (AIIEF) Ltd., and Zenith Asset Tech Foundation, in connection with the operation.

The SEC said the scam unfolded as a multi-step fraud that enticed unsuspecting users with ads on social media and built trust with them through group chats in which the scammers posed as financial professionals and promised returns from artificial intelligence (AI)-generated investment tips.

The fraudsters then convinced the victims to invest their funds into fake cryptocurrency asset trading platforms, only to defraud them later. The

According to the SEC, AI Wealth, Lane Wealth, AIIEF, and Zenith operated investment clubs on messaging apps like WhatsApp to which retail investors were lured into joining via ads on social media. While AI Wealth and Lane Wealth operated their WhatsApp groups from at least January 2024 to June 2024, AIIEF and Zenith ran from at least July 2024 to January 2025.

The complaint alleges an unnamed individual based in Beijing, China, paid for the registrations of AI Wealth, Lane Wealth, and Zenith. The details of the cryptocurrency platforms are as follows -

Each of these clubs included a "professor" who sent updates to investors via WhatsApp on macroeconomic conditions or commentary on stocks and an "assistant" who handled day-to-day interactions with participants. These personas also send trade recommendations that they falsely claimed were based on AI-generated "signals."

"The clubs gained investors' confidence with supposedly AI-generated investment tips before luring investors to open and fund accounts on purported crypto asset trading platforms Morocoin, Berge, and Cirkor, which falsely claimed to have government licenses, as alleged," the SEC said.

"The investment clubs and platforms then allegedly offered 'Security Token Offerings' that were purportedly issued by legitimate businesses. In reality, no trading took place on the trading platforms, which were fake, and the Security Token Offerings and their purported issuing companies did not exist."

The AI Wealth and Lane Wealth WhatsApp groups are

Source: The Hacker News