How hard to detect scams nowadays?

[The Cryptovator]

Time has changed, and scammers change their scamming method as well. Most scammers have used fake photos and plagiarized websites previously. But now a lot of scammers scam with the real photo or KYC. So investing in a brand new project become gambling. It's because it's no more easy to detect scams nowadays. Scammer rugging investors with KYC or real team photos/video. They don't care about anything. Who can take action even if they skip with funds? Who will find them? They just raised funds and enjoy. After a few days, all investors forget about it and start new gambling.

So how to detect smart scams? To be honest there is no way. Whether the project has KYC or Audit doesn't mean it's safe for a team that isn't a scammer. They just don't care about everything.

Although we can't prevent scams we may try at least to save our funds. Here is how.

1. Don't invest in a brand-new project.
2. If you invest assume you are gambling with your funds.
3. See if the project has live utilities which are fully functional.
4. Don't believe the KYC report, because there are a lot of people who sell KYC.
5. Check the project's Partnership and verify if it's real and potential.

Once again, don't invest in the brand new project.

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[Despairo]

Once again, don't invest in any cryptocurrency except Bitcoin

I think this advice is better, that's will make everyone understand which coins we need to avoid and which coin we need to invest. Although new projects has a high risk, but we can't deny if old project has a high risk too. We're just waiting for the old shitcoins project lose of their holders and the developer will abandon their old project to create fresh newly project that related with the current hype e.g. P2E, DEFI, Metaverse.

[Charles-Tim]

2. If you invest assume you are gambling with your funds.

I see new projects more as gambling, but some people just think that if a coin has low price, that the coin would likely pump, some novices just follow the price but which is is wrong. Some believe that having low marketcap would make the price pump, that could be right, but in the process, some coins become exit scam, some become pump and dump, and some may become like old luna in the future. If everyone has preferred to just go for bitcoin, it would have been better for scam avoidance.

[Z-tight]

I think it is even easier to detect scam these days than before, there was a time initial coin offering was everywhere and it was very lucrative for investors, those days you didn't even have know much about crypto to have heard about these schemes and their projects to invest in them, such was the craze, for me i feel it was harder to detect scams then because there were many profitable ones, so those that were scam could easily hide behind them and do their scam.

But now all of that is in the past, with how it ended and how new projects under new schemes have fared since then, investors should already know that almost everything out there that's related to altcoin new projects is a scam, KYC, fake/real team, original or plagiarised whitepaper all mean nothing, the simple truth is that these new projects are not useful, so they will fail and turn to a scam whether they intended to scam or not, just as luna did.

[Taskford]

To make all short don't invest on things you don't know or something you are not sure with because for sure you only just hype up get FOMO and if they offer sure 100% profit with huge return which is to good to be true already then avoid it since this is scammers bait for newbies to scam them.

People need to understand that crypto is full of hypes so they need to be vigilant on their investments and always go only on coins which has been listed on top exchange with good volume acquired to.

[Lucius]

Once again, don't invest in any cryptocurrency except Bitcoin

This is only partially true, because investing in Bitcoin does not automatically mean avoiding scams. Various projects actually use Bitcoin as bait, not to mention various fake online and desktop/mobile wallets that will either steal everything that is deposited to their addresses or their security is so bad that sooner or later hackers will get to the user's coins.

Of course, with investing in Bitcoin and proper storage, every person can avoid various scams, but this whole game is too tempting for the majority of young and inexperienced people who want to become millionaires overnight. Telling such people to ignore all the dubious projects that are offered to them every day is like telling children not to eat sweets because it is bad for their health, while at the same time putting those same sweets in front of them.

One of the methods that everyone should adhere to is the one that says "if it's too good to be true, it must be a lie."

[tabas]

But if one insists to invest, then make sure that you're okay with the amount that you're about to invest and it's affordable to lose. I agree that don't be too quick to invest in new projects because it's mostly a gamble. Even if they have the best PR marketing and the best proposal, still, analyze and verify if that's the project that you like to buy. Don't just rely on how they make announcements and advertisements because that's how they get a lot of investors easily. There's a sense of approval and trust if they're going through that way of convincing investors. But as someone who knows how to be vigilant before trusting, you know what to do and don't be a gullible investor.

[jrrsparkles]

But when someone tries to scam with their identity has been exposed then they are at the risk of facing legal actions, so I think still most of the scammers uses fake identity but if anyone used their real identity then sooner or later they will end up in prison.

Investing on the new projects is like taking the chances all the time even with bitcoin people don't know how big it is going to be in 2010. However time changed and scammers evolved, I feel nowadays they are coming with more realistic investment plans to trap the amateurs and run away with few thousand dollars.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Today, you can fake not only photos, that is, generated photos for the team, but it also became possible to create video clips that are created by neural networks. Any project with some diligence and skill can be presented very colorfully, with vivid comments of fake, non-existent robots. All this, of course, misleads newcomers who are deceived by flashy advertising and promises of fantastic payouts.
It was, is, and will be. As soon as people begin to understand one scam, the scammers will go further.
The race will continue as long as there is demand.
But newcomers who have arrived here on the forum have an excellent opportunity not to get involved in various scams, but to learn from the experience of others, and trust those coins that have earned trust over time

[Igebotz]

So how to detect smart scams? To be honest there is no way. Whether the project has KYC or Audit doesn't mean it's safe for a team that isn't a scammer. They just don't care about everything.

Believing that every audited project is legitimate is the worst because there are hundreds of audit companies that are only after the money and do not care or do any research into the project they are auditing; nowadays, you get addicted as long as you have a website and a token, no background check, road map, or project capital funds. I've worked on some projects that were audited by a reputable audit team and then went awry after a while. Never accept an audited project; always DYOR.

1. Don't invest in a brand-new project.

Being a new project does not imply that it will scam in the future; every project began with one customer before growing to millions of users, and the rules of crypto have always been to enter early and exit late. Every investment is a gamble; you either win or lose; there are no middle ground options. But, while I understand that investing in a new project carries a higher risk than investing in a proven project, how can we tell if the project is a scam without investing in it?

5. Check the project's Partnership and verify if it's real and potential.

Is this really important? Luna had numerous partnerships over the years but eventually became one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams.

[Daniel91]

I stick to simple rules, if something looks too good to be true, then it's probably a scam.
If someone says they know a great way to make money in crypto, ask them why they need additional investors and money and why they don't show this great way to make money to their friends and family first.
As for crypto projects, today it is very easy to register and open a company online, in the UK you can do it in a few hours even if you don't live there, so it doesn't mean much anymore.
Both audits and reviews of projects can be fake, so you really need to be very careful and check everything in detail before making an investment decision.

[joniboini]

how can we tell if the project is a scam without investing in it?

The classic team info, WP plagiarizing etc is one of them. While it might be more complicated nowadays, giving them money and waiting to get scammed is undoubtedly not a good idea. You can also simply wait and see for others to test the water if you're too lazy to check whether a project or service is going to scam you or not (maybe not the most ethical way to do it though).

[Igebotz]

how can we tell if the project is a scam without investing in it?

The classic team info, WP plagiarizing etc is one of them. While it might be more complicated nowadays, giving them money and waiting to get scammed is undoubtedly not a good idea. You can also simply wait and see for others to test the water if you're too lazy to check whether a project or service is going to scam you or not (maybe not the most ethical way to do it though).

Scammers can sit their asses or hire a good writer and get an original white paper and still scam with it; there is no limit to what these scammers can do. There were some highly rated projects that went on to become shit after a successful ICO, and there were projects that received no ratings and went on to become great. However, as you stated, allowing people to enter first while you observe is the best option.

[Issa56]

1. Don't invest in a brand-new project.

Anybody investing in new projects in this current bear market is just gambling with his money, scammers are going on a research on a daily basis, they are looking for new strategies just to defraud people, and I guess they are improving on a daily basis, so we all also have to be smart and very careful so that we won't fall victim, the only coin which I recommend to people to buy is bitcoin, and if you are the type that prefers altcoins, then you should invest in altcoins that have been in market for long time just to be at a safer side, but bitcoin is my best investment and that's the only coin I recommend to people.

[Z390]

Scammers are inclined to reveal their faces to make them millions of dollars, things have changed compared to 2018 conning tricks, now you will have to gamble your money on new altcoins if you want to make money because scam projects are occurring online in a legit way, really hard to tell the difference. 

@issa56 we are in a bear market right now which is the best buying opportunity, if anyone plans to make lots of money in near future they should be dollar average costing right now, scams are out there but we still need to take the risk.

[qwertyup23]

While I agree on most points that you raised, a brand-new project is not necessarily and absolutely a scam- but the risks are too high to justify your decision in investing.

There are lots of projects who are brand-new nowadays as anyone could actually create one. But if you are really keen on investing on one, you have to be responsible by checking all the necessary details in a project. Check if they have a genuine domain, a well-written whitepaper, and all the consequences that follow that proves that it is real and active.

Another thing to keep in mind is to always asks questions. If you feel like this brand-new project could be real, do not hesitate to ask questions TO THE RIGHT people.

[libert19]

...But now a lot of scammers scam with the real photo or KYC...

Projects ask investors for kyc, who asks project owners ('scammers') for kyc?

[tranthidung]

1. Don't invest in a brand-new project.

It is a good prevention but most of people want to hunt hidden gems then they fall into new scam projects.

2. If you invest assume you are gambling with your funds.

I don't agree. Investment means do your own research before making decisions to spend money or skip it. It is not like gambling but I guess your point is "Don't invest if you can not afford to lose". If you implied about people who invest without any research and consideration, they are gamblers and what they do is gambling, not investing.

3. See if the project has live utilities which are fully functional.

It is the point. Utilities and use cases create values for project, then its native token.

4. Don't believe the KYC report, because there are a lot of people who sell KYC.

KYC is better than anonymous but KYC itself does not decide that project is non-scam.

5. Check the project's Partnership and verify if it's real and potential.

Sometimes, it is a good indicator but even so, projects can turn to scam very quickly. Terra is a classic example and just happened a several months ago. Lots of other entities involved and lost in Terra.

[Crypt0Gore]

Once again, don't invest in any cryptocurrency except Bitcoin

I think this advice is better, that's will make everyone understand which coins we need to avoid and which coin we need to invest. Although new projects has a high risk, but we can't deny if old project has a high risk too. We're just waiting for the old shitcoins project lose of their holders and the developer will abandon their old project to create fresh newly project that related with the current hype e.g. P2E, DEFI, Metaverse.

What about Ethereum? Can new ideas be built on Bitcoin? Don't get me wrong I also love Bitcoin but you saying that one should buy BTC only sucks, we are all here for the gains even if we love the tech behind blockchain, I made most of my ROI from alts not Bitcoin, your point is best for newbies who are just starting out with crypto.

[uchegod-21]

Once again, don't invest in any cryptocurrency except Bitcoin

I think this advice is better, that's will make everyone understand which coins we need to avoid and which coin we need to invest. Although new projects has a high risk, but we can't deny if old project has a high risk too. We're just waiting for the old shitcoins project lose of their holders and the developer will abandon their old project to create fresh newly project that related with the current hype e.g. P2E, DEFI, Metaverse.

What about Ethereum? Can new ideas be built on Bitcoin? Don't get me wrong I also love Bitcoin but you saying that one should buy BTC only sucks, we are all here for the gains even if we love the tech behind blockchain, I made most of my ROI from alts not Bitcoin, your point is best for newbies who are just starting out with crypto.

You should not be uncomfortable with this statement Once again, don't invest in any cryptocurrency except Bitcoin,  if you accepted this statement Don't invest in brand new projects.

The first statement emphasised the high level of safety and security in bitcoin while the second statement emphasised the high level of risk and scam in new projects.
It is in your discretion to do what works best for you, meanwhile no one is seeing my portfolio and no one is even sure I am investing in anything. So, there is no big deal about it.