The Setup
When a stranger offers you a chance to make 30% profits with “insider knowledge” on commodity trades, you’d think alarm bells would go off. And yet, for 32 unfortunate investors who are apparently lacking wrinkles in their brains, the promise was tempting enough to hand over millions to a company with barely a foothold in the U.S. market.
The question isn’t why these schemes keep popping up—the real mystery is why people keep falling for them.
The criminals lured customers through sophisticated digital means, utilizing platforms like WeChat, WhatsApp, and Line to build trust and excitement. Their pitch? The opportunity to make staggering profits—up to 30% per trade—by leveraging insider knowledge on commodity futures and forex trading. Customers were either approached directly or funneled through seemingly legitimate websites for Aipu or Fidefx, both of which displayed identical layouts despite operating under different names. The promise was simple but enticing: open an account, fund it with cash or digital assets, and let their “expertise” guide you to easy, passive, wealth.
The Reality
But behind the slick sales pitches and polished websites was a house of cards. According to the CFTC, the account statements customers received—showing steady deposits and impressive returns—were fabricated. The truth is that neither Aipu nor Fidefx operated any legitimate trading accounts. No commodity interests were being traded. Instead, customer funds were being siphoned off to offshore entities with no relation to commodity markets. In short, the victims were led to believe their investments were growing, when in fact, their money had disappeared into the pockets of the fraudsters.
The Harm
At its core, this scheme preys on the trust and aspirations of ordinary individuals, many of whom are likely unsophisticated investors hoping to build financial security through what they believed were savvy trades. The victims aren’t just out millions of dollars—they’re also left grappling with the psychological damage of being scammed, often too ashamed to come forward.
The harm, however, ripples far beyond the direct victims. Such schemes erode public trust in financial markets, especially in increasingly popular spaces like forex and cryptocurrency trading, where regulation struggles to keep pace with technological developments. By undermining faith in the system, these frauds push legitimate, yet cautious, investors away from participating in markets altogether, stifling economic growth and innovation.
For the local communities, the effects can be stark. As individuals fall victim to such scams, the loss of personal wealth cascades into a reduction in consumer spending, financial insecurity, and increased demand for social services. Local businesses and economies can suffer as victims cut back on discretionary spending, reducing the flow of money within the community.
Meowover, the health consequences cannot be ignored. Financial distress often leads to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and even physical illness due to the strain. Victims may find themselves spending more on healthcare services while dealing with less disposable income, creating a vicious cycle that affects not just the individual but their families and wider social circles.
Aipu company used to be called https://www.aipufx.com/, but it has since gone offline.
However, we can still use the internet archival services to see how it looked back in its scammy hayday
Fidefx used to be https://www.fidefxltd.com/ . It is also offline, but we can see how it looked via the Wayback Machine