Recently, the well-known game community account "Laomao Heyixiu" published an in-depth article, exposing a three-year-long "Ponzi scheme" targeting PS5 players and game merchants, causing a huge shock in the gaming circle. Original link >>
It is reported that “the creator behind Laomao and Yixiu is a member of the senior game Chineseization group Lmao Hanhua and the producer of the game modifier Yixiu Master.
The core of the incident is a person with the ID of Tu who calls himself a "channel dealer". He has long been selling PSN points cards, physical games and various electronic products through WeChat groups and other channels at discounts far below market prices.
The general point card discount in the market is about 20% off or 85% off, but Tu can achieve 30% off or even 40% off, thus attracting a large number of players and even Taobao merchants to purchase from him.
Although Tu was able to deliver goods on time before, on the evening of November 30, he suddenly admitted in a group chat that the capital chain was broken. He admitted that he had no special channels at all, but used the full advance payment from new players to purchase and distribute goods to the previous batch of players, forming a typical "Ponzi scheme."
According to exposed information, Tu engaged in the "last" extreme activity in November. Since he has been operating for nearly three years and has accumulated a lot of trust, the event is rumored to have raised tens of millions of yuan (rumored to be 50 million).
There were as many as 234 victims who filled out the form alone. Among them, the ones with the highest losses were Taobao merchants, who paid millions of yuan in advance in one go.
On the night of the thunderstorm, Tu stood up and told the victim that he had no assets to return, and made controversial remarks:
Tu hinted that if the victim did not call the police, he could work or run the family business and "slowly pay back the money over decades"; but once he was imprisoned, he would be completely unable to pay back the money.
Fortunately, the incident quickly attracted the attention of the police. "Old Cat and Yixiu" revealed that Tu was arrested by the police that night (it is unknown whether he surrendered).
"Lao Mao He Yi Xiu" analyzed in the article that the huge amount of money defrauded by Tu may have been used for squandering. He usually shows off luxury goods such as limited edition figures, top-of-the-line electronic products, Rolex watches, and top-of-the-range Xiaomi SU7 on social platforms. This kind of "living and drinking" lifestyle is precisely to create the persona of a "successful businessman" in order to gain more players' trust and advance payments.
The police have not yet issued a detailed police report, but this incident has become an extreme warning to the gaming industry about "taking advantage of petty gains" and high-risk pre-order models.
This shocking Ponzi scheme exposed the crisis of trust that exists in the gaming industry. Are you shocked by this model of “filling one group’s holes with the next group’s money”?