How to avoid ICO scam

[fedoralite]

You will never be 100% sure if an ico is a scam or not. Of course there are indicators, some ico's are just so obvious that it's funny but others look extremely promising but then they suddenly fall of the grid. I don't really mess with ico's, I happily hold the majority of my assets in bitcoin.

I guess the best way to avoid ICO scam is not to invest in ICOs at all   That's the only way to be sure. And it is not really as bad as it sounds. One may still explore the ICOs which seem interesting and invest in them when the coins are released. I think that mostly the prices don't differ much from what they used to be during ico when the coins start to appear on exchanges, whereas the safety obviously grows a lot since you can be sure you'll be able to sell the coins just as you were able to buy them.

We can't even earn huge if we just really on single investment and ICO's are much profitable if we select those coins who are good and have a proper roadmap for there project. But we can still earn by participating on there bounty campaign and this is much more profitable rather than investing some money on some particular ICO's

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[bucksman5233]

Don't invest in ICOs which provide shit bonus like 100% for 1st day, 90% for second day and so on. Know about the team in LinkedIn by checking their profile, work experience etc. Read more information about them in the forums and always ask any for of questions in their telegram or any other chat platform.

[Sarah08]

In this time many ICO makes their appearance and many of it were being popular and known but other were scam,illegitimate, or illegal that's why we need to be careful.We can avoid that scam by being alert and knowledgeable to what have to joined,we should always read the information's about that particular ICO or campaigns,have a research to find out what's the agenda in that particular ICO,because many were saying that its the most promising ICO but certainly its a scam,so we need to be careful for you to determine if it is a scam or legit.

[hyperdak]

do not invest ICO will 100% avoid scam.

[PalindromemordnilaP]

For me, background check matters most. Why not have a research about the team's profile from a reliable source like LinkedIn? Also try to read first their White Paper and/or their website. And with that, that's the time to decide whether you will invest or not in their ICO.

[defunctec]

Invest in companies with real products that have existing customers! This is why I'm an investor of worldcore, they have a product that is used by real paying customers. Avoid any me-too coins, those are coins that are clones of everything else. Avoid coins with names of animals or that make zero sense. Avoid anything that advertises 50% free coins, or anything else outrageous. Use common sense. Ignore trolls.

[MoonIsBlue]

I mean, is there an exact list of rules that could guarantee that someone who follows them will surely not become a victim of another ICO scam. Of course there are obvious rules like event participation, reputation of team members among ather prifessionals, approve by well-known advisors. But potential scammers also know all these criteria and know what to fake exactly.

Is there a 'blockchain way' to create an algorithm, scheme or set of conditions allowing to recognise and ban scammers? Not government laws way which also good for the market in my opinion.

Would be appreciate a link to an old thread, perhaps I just didn't find it.

There's no guarrantee but you can reduce the chances of being scammed. Such as investing in an ICO with a working prototype.
In my opinion I think its ridiculous when a team wants to launch an ICO and still has to complete working on a prototype.
Investing huge amounts into projects that haven't got anything to show for yet doesn't really incentivize them to work on it.

[WeAreSpaco]

any project has a chance to failure

[Siskaver]

Due diligence and only investing what you afford to lose. People want to know exactly what they get for their money but that's just not possible in today's world of ICO's. The ICO doesn't have to be a scam and it can still go down and then back up or increase 10 times after it decreased 5 times.

It's a constant movement and a constant risk.

[xianbits]

I mean, is there an exact list of rules that could guarantee that someone who follows them will surely not become a victim of another ICO scam. Of course there are obvious rules like event participation, reputation of team members among ather prifessionals, approve by well-known advisors. But potential scammers also know all these criteria and know what to fake exactly.

Is there a 'blockchain way' to create an algorithm, scheme or set of conditions allowing to recognise and ban scammers? Not government laws way which also good for the market in my opinion.

Would be appreciate a link to an old thread, perhaps I just didn't find it.

When there are ICOs, the best thing to do is to read the whitepaper and understand everything as much as you can. If the concept is new, unique but still possible, then that's a good factor to consider. I also consider who manages their campaigns. A project that pays a good campaign manager is a good sign for me since they don't think of how much they would pay to that manager because they are confident that the project will succeed. Also, a transparent team, real people, real names, and real experiences.
Wait, a good website is also my factor, but it should be considered least. A good presentation, is a good impression.

[shesheboy]

I mean, is there an exact list of rules that could guarantee that someone who follows them will surely not become a victim of another ICO scam. Of course there are obvious rules like event participation, reputation of team members among ather prifessionals, approve by well-known advisors. But potential scammers also know all these criteria and know what to fake exactly.

Is there a 'blockchain way' to create an algorithm, scheme or set of conditions allowing to recognise and ban scammers? Not government laws way which also good for the market in my opinion.

Would be appreciate a link to an old thread, perhaps I just didn't find it.

thats a good idea if they can implement it to avoid scamers  because there have been many reports about ico's that scamming people.
and also no matter what the project looks legit they can still posibly  turn to scam. so iguess its better to just avoid investing on ico's and rather invest on something legit like bitcoin and some altcoin. to ensure that your funds are safe and can go a long run.

[treather]

There are no exact rules to follow,but there are a few things you can do to reduce the probability of being scammed. Check if there is a prototype or an actual product. Insist on seeing some code ala github. Things like this really helps.

[TrumpD]

There are no exact rules to follow,but there are a few things you can do to reduce the probability of being scammed. Check if there is a prototype or an actual product. Insist on seeing some code ala github. Things like this really helps.

Good information, also keep in mind that if there is a big difference between the hard and soft cap, it is probably a scam.

do not invest ICO will 100% avoid scam.

as true as this sounds, no risk, no gain. There are genuine ICO's out there, filter them and you will profit.

any project has a chance to failure

True. even if a project is not scamming, It could still fail. success is not guaranteed.

[Vivimubarak]

should read a lot of information about ICO and have a belief that you are not a scam ICO. and as a consideration see the development team and the idea of the ICO.

[chainese]

I thınk you can't avoid scam ICO's if it is in your faith because they can look legit and after six months past of their ico they can say we are done we can't deliver this product because of this because of that bla bla.. You can protect this situation with blockchain or nothing else. If you are not a risky person you need to go on with BTC LTC and Eth or really good proven altcoins.

I agree that risks of the global market for ICOs projects at least are the same as for VC fueled projects. I talking more about intended misleading of [Suspicious link removed]munity.

[chainese]

There is a long list of requires, for example you should learn each team member. But if you don't understand how it works, you shouldn't even try to invest in ICO.

Thank you! But given example is too obvious, could you give another few ones?

What you mean "don't understand how it works". Something I understand, something don't. Do you understand everything about how it works?

[chainese]

Like others have said there is a laundry list of items you need to watchout for with icos. But to me I think the main thing is having a good product and a team. If ico doesnt have these two things I dont bother looking into it more. Also

another pretty important factor is how much money are they asking for. If they are asking for 500m well good luck trying to make money but if 5m then you may have a chance if the other two aspects are quality.

What if $50m?

Of I agree with the require to have a good helpful product and a team with relevant background and strong reputation on the area. But scammers surely know these requirements also, right? So I wonder is there a requirement that is unvulnerable for a scammer? I mean like it is (almost) impossible to vulner a big blockchain.

[chainese]

You will never be 100% sure if an ico is a scam or not. Of course there are indicators, some ico's are just so obvious that it's funny but others look extremely promising but then they suddenly fall of the grid. I don't really mess with ico's, I happily hold the majority of my assets in bitcoin.

Could you please give a couple of examples of an obvious scam that is not exposed yet?

[jlp]

Read:

3 kinds of ICOs - Protect Yourself
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2243157

[chainese]

Dear i think it is very difficult for us. Because we don't know who are scamer or whice one are scam ICO.
I think it's protect has our project developer and Thread modaretor.
We are not properly avoid it, but i think we have some of way.
first we research and check related to ANN thred or ERC20 .
second check all information about the team member, it's anonymous team or not. and read white paper, then we will visit official website.
Most important who is the campaign manager?

Thank you! Do you mean that there is a list of moderators who garantee that an ICO is not a scam by their participation? And the same question about campaign manager.

I guess it could be a good criteria but not sure how moderators and campaign managers are motivated to be honest. Is there an 'open source' of their work?