TUX is a cryptocurrency scam that has been making a lot of noise in Moldova recently, but its story begins much earlier. Appearing in Italy in early 2024 under the name TUX AI, the platform had already attracted investors during offline events before changing domains and relocating to Moldova in early 2025.
There, it follows the exact same model as the ACCGN scam in France and the CoinPlex scam in Poland: promises of daily returns, physical offices, intensive referral programs, and a narrative based on artificial intelligence. The following article reviews its evolution, operation, and collapse.
1. Appearance of TUX in Moldova
The first traces of TUX‘s activity date back to early 2024. At that time, the platform operated under the name TUX AI and first established itself in Italy, where it organized offline events, gathered dozens of people, and began building a community around the promise of automated trading capable of generating up to 4% in daily returns.
The physical gatherings, calibrated speeches, the opening of temporary offices, and the use of highly crafted technological vocabulary gave the impression of a solid and well-structured project. In reality, TUX in Italy already resembled a pyramid scheme preparing for its expansion.
Over the months, the warning signs accumulated. The first withdrawals became irregular, domain names changed, and some versions of the platform disappeared only to reappear under new addresses. Everything indicated that TUX had already scammed a portion of the Italian public, then chose to relocate to continue its activity under another name.
It was in early 2025 that TUX resurfaced in Moldova.
In a few weeks, TUX Moldova established itself as a “reliable” opportunity, promoted by very credible leaders and aggressive communication.
2. The Key Promoters: A Couple from Law Enforcement
The rise of TUX in Moldova is largely due to a very influential couple in the region.
One is a former police officer, the other a former criminal brigade agent. Their background in law enforcement gave TUX immediate credibility for thousands of Moldovans.
The man had already been accused of or involved in a bribery case, but this information remained secondary to their status and local influence.
Thanks to their notoriety, this couple became the main face of TUX, organizing meetings, reassuring investors, and encouraging increasing deposits.
3. A Development Scheme Identical to ACCGN and CoinPlex
TUX replicates the exact same steps as recent crypto Ponzis that have hit Europe:
3.1 Offline Events and Community Gatherings
Like CoinPlex with the Polish firefighters or ACCGN with its group meetings, TUX organizes:
physical meetings,
demonstrations in rented rooms,
private meetings “among investors”,
trading training sessions.
These events reinforce the feeling of belonging to a serious and cohesive community.
3.3 Sponsoring Sports Clubs
To strengthen its credibility, TUX Moldova adopts the same strategy as other recent European Ponzis: partnering with local sports clubs.
In Italy, TUX AI had already sponsored amateur events to appear as a respectable and community-involved company. In Moldova, the platform replicated this pattern. It finances regional teams, distributes equipment to players, and displays its logo at local competitions.
These initiatives create a deceptive climate of trust. Locals see it as proof that it is a “well-established” company, ready to invest in youth and sports. This sponsorship thus becomes a formidably effective communication tool to attract new investors and legitimize the project in the public’s eyes.
3.4 Gifts for Promoters
Like CoinPlex in Poland or ACCGN in France, TUX rewards its most active promoters with valuable gifts.
Latest phones, laptops, cars, or even trips: the rewards serve to motivate recruiters and reinforce the idea that TUX “leaders” are genuinely making money from the platform.
These gifts play a crucial psychological role. The recipients publish videos, photos, and testimonials that fuel the myth of collective success. For newcomers, this visual evidence builds confidence and encourages deposits.
In reality, these gifts are not financed by “profits generated by AI,” but by the money of new investors. The more a promoter recruits, the more they are rewarded. This is the very essence of a pyramid scheme.
The model is perfectly calibrated. It never changes, only the facade does.
4. A Worrying Infiltration of Moldovan Institutions
TUX did not just attract private investors.
Many victims were government members, police officers, civil servants, ministry officials, and even employees of public organizations.
This institutional infiltration reinforces the project’s apparent legitimacy.
For many Moldovans, if “even the police and state employees are in it,” then TUX couldn’t be a scam.
This climate of trust allowed the platform to reach tens of thousands of users in just a few months.
5. The Internal Mechanics: A Ponzi Scheme
Despite its futuristic narrative and storefront offices, TUX Moldova follows the exact structure of recent crypto Ponzis:
New deposits finance the withdrawals of older members.
Withdrawals are possible at first, then become limited.
Users must continuously invite new members.
The system collapses as soon as deposits slow down.
When TUX starts running out of liquidity, withdrawals are blocked.
Then, a message asks users to deposit an additional $100 to unlock their money.
A technique identical to the one used by ACCGN in France.
6. The Collapse and First Arrests
The collapse of TUX Moldova on October 8 triggered one of the largest police operations in the country’s history. On November 6, 2025, authorities conducted 28 simultaneous raids across the country. These operations targeted the main promoters, the offices used to recruit victims, and the locations where technical equipment related to the platform was stored.
In total, five people aged 30 to 45 were arrested and detained for 72 hours. The investigation focuses on suspicions of money laundering, tax fraud, and illegal business activity.
It is being conducted jointly by agents from the Department of Economic Investigations, the Criminal Investigations Department, and the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS).
During the raids, law enforcement seized:
Hundreds of thousands of lei
Foreign currencies
Mobile phones and computers
As well as numerous pieces of evidence to trace the system’s financial flows
TUX, which presented itself as an innovative crypto and Web3 platform promising up to 4% daily returns, was nothing more than a pyramid scheme whose survival depended on the constant recruitment of new members.
Over 50,000 Moldovans were allegedly involved, with estimated losses exceeding €48 million.
Many victims reportedly took out loans to invest in the platform, convinced by local promoters, physical offices, and TUX‘s pseudo-technological discourse.
The system’s collapse has left families ruined, officials discredited, and a community deeply scarred.
7. A Link in the Chinese Criminal Network Operating from Southeast Asia
TUX Moldova is not a local project.
Like ACCGN and CoinPlex, TUX is part of a much larger network controlled by a Chinese criminal organization operating from the scam factories of Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.
These criminal organizations:
Create dozens of Ponzi platforms under different names
Use the same technologies and scripts
Hire forced laborers in areas outside of state control
Change branding depending on the target countries
Recycle the same “AI + stable return” models
The servers, application templates, return charts, and referral mechanics are nearly identical from one country to another.
TUX is just a regional clone from this criminal machine, like ACCGN for France or CoinPlex for Poland.
Conclusion
TUX was just a sophisticated Ponzi scheme driven by influential promoters and disguised behind a false technological narrative. Over 50,000 victims, tens of millions of euros lost, and infiltration up to public institutions.
Like ACCGN or CoinPlex, TUX belongs to the same international criminal network operating from Southeast Asia. It is further proof that behind guaranteed returns, there is never an investment, only a well-organized scam.
