How to know if the project is fake?

[Vishnu.Reang]

So how do you indentify if the project is fake?

Like you said:
- fake address
Others:
- no tax/business number
- no cash flow projections
- no insurance
- unclear ownership
- standard privacy policy / terms of service
- requires you to send coin before withdrawing coin

(took 5 mins - will add more when I think of it)

Very helpful list. But I have to add one thing here. There are projects in which the team refuses to divulge their identity or other details (such as insurance or address). In such instances, it can be very hard to know whether the project is fake or not. In some sectors, anonymity is required. Examples are those dealing in porn or semi-legal sectors such as cannabis. And here, it is not practical for us to demand that the team members should reveal their identity.

[Sulman326]

When hunters encounter fake projects, it will only take time. But for investors, they will lose most of the money invested. I think before investing, you can join the relevant cryptocurrency groups to see some advice. If you want to check, you can check the website life, team, news from that project and see if it is correct or not.

[Princeofpoetry]

But for investors, they will lose most of the money invested. I think before investing, you can join the relevant cryptocurrency groups to see some advice. If you want to check, you can check the website life, team, news from that project and see if it is correct or not.

It is very difficult for investors to find real projects. People who have a lot of experience and good analysis may be able to successfully indicate fake projects earlier

[chikading2016]

There are so many ways to know if the project is legit or fake, one of this ways is the address the background of the team specially the ceo and the profile that is shown on white paper, sometimes if the project is fake they also use a fake picture or photo so that they can easily scape if the people find out that they are scammers.

[kaseygriffin]

When hunters encounter fake projects, it will only take time. But for investors, they will lose most of the money invested. I think before investing, you can join the relevant cryptocurrency groups to see some advice. If you want to check, you can check the website life, team, news from that project and see if it is correct or not.

And that is why investors will never waste their money and time on ICO projects. Too risky for them to invest in it, they will choose IEO projects at large exchanges so their money is safe and profitable.

[Jocuserious]

There are many ways to identify a fake project such as one of their presence and answers to investors' questions and a trusted exchange of ICO identities. Keep views project team everyone's profiles and locations, research their products, even if any of the information they provide is questionable or unreasonable then think that the project is a hoax.

[swordking]

Investors have to make sure about one thing and that is always being a researcher before investing any kind of money. Good research with some efforts can save you from losing your money. That's why always look team behind the project as well as the project address or there are many other ways to find out about the project is a scam or not.

[Marble777]

not only addresses, if you are more careful there are many obstacles that need to be suspected about fake projects, especially team and developer photos, company addresses, cellphone numbers, even when trying VideoCall directly, it is not certain that the person communicating with you is the real team. It's all about money, money can make fake projects look like real ones.

[josgandosbro]

but not all projects will include their address on the website or whitepaper, most of them just state which country they are from. and again seeing the team in the project in my opinion is the most important, because if the team is fake it is certain the project is a scam

[maiden]

The first thing that I always do is checking their social media updates, like from it's twitter, telegram, github, since that was the place that will give me some kind of information about the project and it's update. After that I will check to it's website, looking out for their Team Members and making sure all of them are actually real, it's name, it's face, because a fake project will definitely not gonna put their real identity.

Same here,  first thing for real is we always do checking social media updates. you can also read their white paper if its available so that you know what's the scope of the project. other says that team members inside the management doesn't put their real identity for the sake of their protection and privacy and still the project become successful.

[shaheer001]

Actually we all especially the investor must focus on the project team members as we almost neglect to search for the team as everyone knows that if the team is well known and real people and has some good previous experience in crypto then the project is in safe hands otherwise leave the project.

[Princeofpoetry]

other says that team members inside the management doesn't put their real identity for the sake of their protection and privacy and still the project become successful.

Would investors trust such a project if the person and team behind the project was hidden? such a project is very dubious.

[ancafe]

There are many ways to identify a fake project such as one of their presence and answers to investors' questions and a trusted exchange of ICO identities. Keep views project team everyone's profiles and locations, research their products, even if any of the information they provide is questionable or unreasonable then think that the project is a hoax.

for some projects maybe we can identify it ourselves. however, for professional scammers, it can be difficult to do research on your own. sometimes you need help from forums to do that. however, there are still quite a few people asking about project scam on this forum, and it really helps.

[Blue_oxen]

There are many ways to identify a fake project such as one of their presence and answers to investors' questions and a trusted exchange of ICO identities. Keep views project team everyone's profiles and locations, research their products, even if any of the information they provide is questionable or unreasonable then think that the project is a hoax.

for some projects maybe we can identify it ourselves. however, for professional scammers, it can be difficult to do research on your own. sometimes you need help from forums to do that. however, there are still quite a few people asking about project scam on this forum, and it really helps.

That's true! There are some obvious tricks that we can realize at the first time seeing it. However, scammers always get smarter and smarter. Sometimes, we can't even know we are involving in a scam project until it turns out to be a scam one! Doing researches are helpful, though, sometimes scammers are miles ahead us that we can't realize anything! Consulting other advice and feedback is a good way too!

[Banulit]

I have been experience joining bounties to those project that turns out to be fake or bogus so it helps me to learn in a way the I became more cautios in joining. I always do my research in the project that wanted to join and be part with and I am searching if the project has a high reviews from the pro crypto enthusiast.

[tungaqhd]

There are many ways to identify a fake project such as one of their presence and answers to investors' questions and a trusted exchange of ICO identities. Keep views project team everyone's profiles and locations, research their products, even if any of the information they provide is questionable or unreasonable then think that the project is a hoax.

Looking at the founders is really a perspective for us to find fake in a project, I believe that at this forum, a lot of people are doing it, look up information from members of a project to increase credibility with that project. Another thing we can look at is the roadmap and capitalization that the project is providing, even looking at the money they spend on advertising, good projects always maintain that at a reasonable level, while fake projects often enhance and give a figure too far from reality.

[dataispower]

but not all projects will include their address on the website or whitepaper, most of them just state which country they are from. and again seeing the team in the project in my opinion is the most important, because if the team is fake it is certain the project is a scam

Most projects include their address if they have an offline office(s). This doesn't mean a project adding address to website guarantees its not scam, most scammers already know how to deceive investors. I support your opinion, if the team is not fake, then certainly the project is legit. However, knowing if the team is not fake is the hard nut to crack. Most times, merely looking at team profile to justify if they are legit is misleading. Except if they attend blockchain/crypto conferences, do live AMAs, have well known partners / backers, then they are most likely legit.

[Denamen]

Actually we all especially the investor must focus on the project team members as we almost neglect to search for the team as everyone knows that if the team is well known and real people and has some good previous experience in crypto then the project is in safe hands otherwise leave the project.

If you are a long-time investor, you will certainly have a lot of experience in research and I will often evaluate the response of the investor community when it comes to this project. I think if the project receives positive responses from investors, it will surely soon be known by a lot of investors and you can consider investing if you feel like it. I do this often and it has made me a lot of profits.

[prehisto]

There are some tells,
For exmaple, the project page is the same old temeplate which everyone uses, this shows that they do not care.
Their linkedin accounts seem to be generated, look at their expereince, their pictures.
The idea of project.

But in the end even if everything seems legit, it does not mean that it is not a scam.

[someone703]

I have been experience joining bounties to those project that turns out to be fake or bogus so it helps me to learn in a way the I became more cautios in joining. I always do my research in the project that wanted to join and be part with and I am searching if the project has a high reviews from the pro crypto enthusiast.

Can you share ways to evaluate new projects? I also did a lot of research before I got into bounties, but to be honest they still became scams at the end of the road. It is impossible to find a really good project at the moment