Bitcoin Forum

What are the signs or clue that an ico is a scam? Thanks. 😊

Scam ICO's are not an incorporated company.
The people behind the "project" are unknown/fraudulent team members/advisors.
They promise high/fixed profits if you invested.
Plagiarized/bad whitepaper.
Token distribution structure doesn’t make sense (e.g. 35% for founders)
Team dodging questions by the community (Refusal to disclose company info)

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You can read in details from the source here: https://blog.indorse.io/how-to-spot-a-scam-ico-d2cfe47b3b52

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You can always check the background details of the project, website, whitepaper, team, and advisors etc. Most of the SCAM ICO can identify by it. If you find that team members are fake, the whitepaper is copy-paste then definitely that project is going to fool you. So before investing your money in a project always reminder this advise.

A good method to determine whether an ICO is scam or not is to look up for the partners of the particular project, especially on their marketing agency. Usually, blockchain startups don't have their own marketing department, therefore they hire other companies to do PR, marketing, content creation, community management etc.

So check their website, their LinkedIn's and all those stuff.

So you may use the same scheme to check out the ICO projects and determine, whether are they scams or not.

Thank you so much for the tips and the link, ive learned so much with it. 😊

Thanks for the tip 😊

Thanks for the info. 😊 I'll check that Incryptico marketing agency.

Considering all previous instructions as correct, usually a promise of very high prizes without any significant effort on your part, with a requirement of data that is not requested by serious companies, are clear signs to which people should be aware.

Agree on that. Respectful marketing agencies will not work with scammers for example

That's a good call! :)

Well, you have to take a look to all the information the ico brings, first step is to read the coin white paper and compare it with bitcoin white paper. If that file only taks about the team and how the coin will be the best one in the world, then it's a scam. If that file talks about the technical from the coin, then you can give them a positive point, but that doesn't mean at att it will not be a scam.

Then you should take a look to the amount the business need for the ico to start as a coin, if you see they need $100 Million then is a scam, if the amount is reasonable then you can give them another positive point.

And the last thing to watch is... who is behind the coin. If the team is made from unknown people with newbies accounts on the forum, then think it twice before join that ico, if the team have one or more trusty members on the forum or on the internet. then you can trust the coin. But i insist, that doesn't mean the ico will become a true coin.   

credits to psoo7

1. CLAIMS OF HIGH, GUARANTEED RETURNS.
2. CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS
3. CLAIMS OF “SEC-COMPLIANT” (guarantees that their coins will trade on an SEC-compliant exchange where you can buy and sell them for profit)
4. INVESTING WITH A CREDIT CARD.
5. PUMP AND DUMP SCAMS.(Tempting you with guaranteed gains with pumps and dumps during pre ico to crowd sale)
6. Team members without any social profile. if they provide be sure to check the genuinity on basis of followers and background.
7. Language( grammar is correct or not)
8. GitHub does not include the ICO’s source code
9. Unthinkable Premines. or =>50% Bonus for Private pre-sale
10. Huge % of tokens are allocated for the Team & advisers

and if you have done these be sure to read the whitepaper!!

There are so many, that easier to look for signs that ico is NOT a scam. Its really challenging because most of them are.
I would bet on common sense. Too good to be true? Then it is.
Too many promises, too big promises, too much revolution without any real evidence etc.

- The absence of MVP
- no soft cap
- no audit of smart contract

A lot of ico projects are scam so find fake ico is very easy.

You must looking on objectives because most of them are unreal and never will be complete

Check team, support and opinion about ico because these are very important aspects

Thanks for all of your answers, but i have another question.

If the author (i dont know what do you call that) of the ANN here or the bounty is a Legendary or a Hero member. Would that mean that that ICO is a legit one?

All the criteria posted here are valid and worth being followed BUt I still have to find a single ICO that was not a Scam.
So that is my crtirerium.
Good luck,
RR

Nope.
We know many examples when trustworthy users being campaign managers have failed them. Of course this doesn't mean that they initially knew the campaign is scam. I think the reason is they not always give enough time to research each campaign.

It is quite difficult to identify scam ICO's, but from experience, it has been noted that these scam ICO''s are not willing to answer questions about the project. Most of them have white paper full of mistakes and their team members too have fake followers on social media.

A good method to determine whether an ICO is scam or not is to look up for the partners of the particular project, especially on their marketing agency. Usually, blockchain startups don't have their own marketing department, therefore they hire other companies to do PR, marketing, content creation, community management etc.

every old and new coin must have a whitepaper. Why? Because the whitepaper will inform investors about the Coin in detail - from the mission, the team, to the technology to be used, the Whitepaper can also be seen as a coin "proposal" for the ICO to investors.

Counterfeit companies usually do not have a Whitepaper because they are not professional enough to make a normal Whitepaper, or the company cannot describe their company, vision, mission and ideas in a reasonable way, companies that usually promise sweet dreams find it difficult to explain in detail. and logically how they will reach their "target", remember that they can also copy whitepapers from companies that are already nets

There are several factors that determine scam.

1.an obscure team
2.Unclear business model
3.illogical profitability
4.an inactive social community

THank you

This is a very clear and a detailed explanation of scams. This is very helpful.

To avoid SCAM from an ICO project, you should avoid phishing websites, as fraudulent websites are just like the real ICO website, investors almost need to know the official website before a project is a launch. Therefore, when you want to invest in an ICO project, the first thing is to consult and thoroughly study the project.

Most at times,scam ICOs do not have team members and there is no video of the project.

Scam ICO's can be spotted when the white paper contains a lot of mistakes and the team members also have a larger share of the tokens. Some of the team members also have fake followers and new accounts.