34 charged in $64M crypto scam built on fake trading platform

Thirty-four people were charged in Ezhou, China, after running a fake crypto platform that stole 460 million yuan—around $64 million—from nearly 30,000 people over the course of a single year.

The group, working as a coordinated fraud ring, launched a fake trading site called OURBIT Digital Currency Trading Platform, which they said was “registered in Singapore” and had official licenses from the U.S. and U.K. The court ruled the whole thing was a fraud scheme, not a real investment service.

According to the case covered by the Ezhou Court, the scammers built a false sense of legitimacy by setting up a professional-looking site. They claimed it offered advanced features like “zero slippage,” “new stop-profit and stop-loss functions,” and live trading charts synced with the Bitcoin market.

It didn’t. They forged everything. They faked 9 crypto trading pairs, used fake data, and created the illusion of a functioning exchange. The site wasn’t connected to the real crypto markets at all.

Scam used fake teachers, fake trades, and layered agents

Inside WeChat groups, the group posed as experienced trading “teachers” who constantly posted fake profit screenshots to hype up easy returns. They arranged for planted participants—known as “drags”—to fake agreement and cheer in chat.

One of the victims, Liang, said he was tricked into putting over 3 million yuan into the platform after seeing these chats. “At first, the account was liquidated and lost money.

After additional investment, there was a slight profit, but the platform frequently froze, and after recovery, it started to lose money again,” Liang said. He added that his account was directly liquidated later due to sudden “pins”—artificial price spikes added by the platform.

These “teachers” played the front-facing role. Behind them was a setup with real structure. The OURBIT team had departments for product, tech, and business operations.

The business department handed out fake crypto accounts to agents and promised high commissions. Those agents recruited sub-agents, who then went after new investors. Everyone got a cut of the money the victims lost.

When these agents went out looking for new customers, they lied about who they were. They used fake names, fake screenshots, and pre-written scripts to convince people that this was a legit investment opportunity. Once victims signed up, they were pushed toward high-risk trades designed to drain their accounts fast.

The platform was rigged from top to bottom. It wasn’t a trading site. It was a closed system—a gambling setup where the user always lost. There was no market access. All prices were faked. The operators could control “slippage,” create fake price candles, run simulated trades, and mess with account balances. The whole thing was programmed to bleed users dry.

When someone started making a lot of money, the platform either froze the account or banned it entirely. In some cases, the agents called the victims and convinced them to reinvest even more to “unlock” their funds—then stole that, too. Others were told they had to prove liquidity by depositing more, which also vanished.

Court hands down prison time, warns public about crypto risks

After reviewing the operation, the Ezhou Court ruled that the platform was built solely to steal user funds. Defendant Cheng and 33 others were found guilty of fraud. The court said they “fabricated facts, concealed the truth, and carried out the crime for the purpose of illegal possession.” The sentences ranged from three years to twelve years behind bars. The court also imposed fines on all of them. Because of how many people were involved, the court broke the case into separate trials, all of which are now finalized.

The court didn’t just go after the 34 fraudsters. It also issued a public warning. China doesn’t treat crypto the same as fiat money. Trading it is not legally protected. That means if someone gets scammed, they can’t rely on the same financial protections as they would with traditional investments. The court said this scam proved just how dangerous that space can be.

A judge told the public to stop falling for shady “get-rich-quick” messages. He said people should stay alert and avoid trusting anyone offering investment advice through chat groups. “Investors should establish a correct view of wealth, stay sober at all times, never trust investment information in social groups,” the judge said. “Remain highly vigilant against ‘high-yield’ propaganda.”

He added that financial safety also means being smart and cautious, especially when money moves through unregulated systems like crypto. The court emphasized that once the money is gone, there’s often no way to get it back.

The OURBIT platform had all the right visual tricks—charts, menus, even language that mimicked real trading platforms—but none of it was connected to the real crypto market. The site was a shell designed to take in deposits and manipulate every trade, price move, and transaction behind the scenes. Victims thought they were trading in real-time. In reality, they were just feeding a gambling engine.

For the fraud ring, the system worked. The more victims lost, the more the agents earned. And since the agents were getting their share, nobody stopped to question how the profits were made.

The people who got burned didn’t just lose money. They were blocked, ignored, and misled every step of the way. Those who called support got nowhere. Those who asked for withdrawals were told to wait. When users started to organize and complain online, the platform shut down and went dark.

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