Chinese authorities have issued a warning about scams involving the DeepSeek blockchain project, where fraudsters posed as developers to steal from investors. These scammers falsely claimed to use DeepSeek technology to promote a fake investment platform. The scammers also distributed fake DeepSeek applications embedded with malware, posing a significant security risk for users. DeepSeek gained attention earlier this year for its AI model, which reportedly matched OpenAI's performance at a lower cost. This attracted investors, and fraudsters took advantage of this momentum by launching fraudulent crowdfunding campaigns before disappearing with the funds. The authorities revealed that victims were misled into believing they could earn over 10,000 yuan ($1,373) per month by using DeepSeek. The scammers sold a tutorial for 39.9 yuan ($5.5), which claimed to teach users how to create viral content. However, the tutorial contained mostly publicly available material, with only a small portion being useful. In another scam, the fraudsters set up fake "monetization training camps" and charged between 299 yuan ($41) and 399 yuan ($55) for courses that were completely worthless. The deception continued as the scammers created fake DeepSeek communities, presenting them as official groups and promoting fake qualifications and advanced courses. They also introduced DeepSeekCoin, a fake cryptocurrency they falsely claimed was supported by strong technical backing. This led to investors losing all their funds. In January, DeepSeek clarified that it had no association with any cryptocurrency and distanced itself from tokens falsely linked to its name. They emphasized that the only official account was on Twitter and warned that they would not contact anyone through other channels. Additionally, fake DeepSeek applications were spreading malware, disguised under names like DeepSeek.apk, DeepSeek.exe, DeepSeek.msi, and DeepSeek.dmg. Once installed, these apps would prompt users to download updates that contained malicious code. The malware accessed sensitive data, such as contacts and messages, and in some cases, it prevented users from uninstalling the app. The authorities also warned that, as AI applications like DeepSeek gain popularity, the frequency of similar scams is likely to increase. The authorities urged users to carefully verify sources before engaging in AI-related investment opportunities and be cautious of suspicious applications that could pose security threats.
