SIGNS THAT A CRYPTO PROJECT IS A SCAM

[Kelvinid]

Well, I would tell that the market is soo tricky and these scammers are too clever as well. They are smarter than us because even we know that these are the ways to determine scam projects but guess what, they're making another way to gain trust and to fall for their evil plan. In fact, as you can see still a lot of people had fallen into scam projects meaning, no matter how we spread things like this, they still win and can't rid of them. Honestly, when it comes to money, people become a fool and this is how scammers do.

[justdimin]

As cryptocurrency continues to gain popularity, more and more people are investing in various crypto projects. Unfortunately, with this rise in interest comes an increase in scams.

The biggest sign is that they do not have a good audit, not from a place that matters, like CertiK, and yes I know that it costs a lot to get that but if a project doesn't have enough money to get it, then I am sorry but I am not going to get in neither. Why would I fund their entire thing, you should be spending a few thousand dollars, even tens of thousands of dollars if you believe in it, if you do not have that money then you shouldn't make a project to begin with.

There are projects that spend a million dollars on their project, and not that rarely, they end up failing too and losing that money. But at least they tried, I could see myself funding them, they could make more or fail. But I am not funding any project that can't even afford a CertiK audit.

[fullhdpixel]

I think that biggest sign is that scams always offer a big profit that is so much attractive that many people invest money in the scam projects without any checking informations.

That sounds like an inexperienced person jumping into a new project that has no details and that is bound to be a scam. While there are many such projects we are here discussing more about those who can determine these scam with relative accuracy and need opinion about more advanced detection. Such simple textbook scams are easily avoided by them.

Even then some kids will always make such mistakes and I hope they read this and learn something. Team background check, token economics and previous similar competing projects all should be checked. I also suggest at least a 2year watch period to observe progress before actually putting in money.

Two years is a very long period in my opinion, because a project that isn't legit and doesn't have strong fundamentals won't even survive a few months after it has been released in the market. The team if isn't professional and experienced won't be able to keep the project going as per their roadmap and there will be uncertainty seen by their followers and there will be a lack of proper management which will give it all away and investors and the public will come to know about their reality.

So those who are not much experienced in the industry and can't determine if a project is legit or a scam and whether they should invest in it or not, shouldn't do it at the initial stage, especially if they are conducting an ICO or something to collect money from investors.

[|MINER|]

It is really difficult to predict which projects are going to be scams. But even if you can't identify completely, I think you can try to identify something or if you follow some basic things, you don't have to fall into the trap of these scammers.  For example, whether their white papers are correct, then whether their various sources are correct, who are they projecting.  Or they are getting certified from any organization. And scams tend to be mostly new coins so it is better to avoid them

[shinratensei_]

It is really difficult to predict which projects are going to be scams. But even if you can't identify completely, I think you can try to identify something or if you follow some basic things, you don't have to fall into the trap of these scammers.  For example, whether their white papers are correct, then whether their various sources are correct, who are they projecting.  Or they are getting certified from any organization. And scams tend to be mostly new coins so it is better to avoid them

honestly nowadays whitepaper is rather irrelevant, though they serve their function as technical description in regards of the project but determining whether a project might turns out a scam hardly can be judged by the whitepaper alone, i think the fact that we should check the smart contract, total supply, the devs themselves and so on are more important these days. heck whitepaper could even be faked, so i don't think its really that meaningful.
but what easy is determining that a project isn't scam from its partnership alone, just see a project that have partnership with big figures and companies even venture capital, i doubt they'd scam, otherwise their seed funding of million dollars if not hundred millions dollars would go to waste.

[wxa7115]

Well, I would tell that the market is soo tricky and these scammers are too clever as well. They are smarter than us because even we know that these are the ways to determine scam projects but guess what, they're making another way to gain trust and to fall for their evil plan. In fact, as you can see still a lot of people had fallen into scam projects meaning, no matter how we spread things like this, they still win and can't rid of them. Honestly, when it comes to money, people become a fool and this is how scammers do.

Scammers have been doing this for so long that they have become incredibly good at what they do and if we were to enter their game then most likely we will get burn.

It is because of this that we should not even entertain the idea of doing so, and the best way to do this is by avoiding all new coins being released these days, if you do that then you will avoid a great deal of the scams on this market, and if you add the use of a safe OS while you also make an effort of keeping your coins safe and only download your wallets from safe sources then your chances of being scammed will drop considerably.

[Blitzboy]

It is really difficult to predict which projects are going to be scams. But even if you can't identify completely, I think you can try to identify something or if you follow some basic things, you don't have to fall into the trap of these scammers.  For example, whether their white papers are correct, then whether their various sources are correct, who are they projecting.  Or they are getting certified from any organization. And scams tend to be mostly new coins so it is better to avoid them

honestly nowadays whitepaper is rather irrelevant, though they serve their function as technical description in regards of the project but determining whether a project might turns out a scam hardly can be judged by the whitepaper alone, i think the fact that we should check the smart contract, total supply, the devs themselves and so on are more important these days. heck whitepaper could even be faked, so i don't think its really that meaningful.
but what easy is determining that a project isn't scam from its partnership alone, just see a project that have partnership with big figures and companies even venture capital, i doubt they'd scam, otherwise their seed funding of million dollars if not hundred millions dollars would go to waste.

Whitepapers stink! These sophisticated documents are just sheets with words and objects. What is a whitepaper? There are only words, codes, and nonsense. But look at those ties with significant individuals and businesses. Thats where the bright gold is? Who would reject a billion-dollar seed investment? minor players! You may wonder why whitepapers exist. They are old, boring, and dated. Discuss crucial topics like smart contracts, developers, and endless statistics. Anything like that. The difference is them. Who wants old, mouldy whitepapers?

[cheezcarls]

I would rather look first if the project was backed by reputable VCs (venture capitalists) like Binance Labs, Pantera Capital, etc.

Regardless if that project has a nice looking website, Twitter (X) blue account with many followers and engagements, etc., as long there are no venture capitalists claimed to back then, I won’t be investing or engaging on that.

Unverified smart contracts are also a sign of red flag like the latest allegation against Trait Sniper. Many people are going FOMO mode into that airdrop but with many red flags such as their Discord verification pointing towards a phishing site, wallet drainer, etc.

Many factors that we can consider if the project is scam aside from the few points made by the OP.

[cute nmp]

Totally agreed with all the reasons above  except the lack of transparency cause when it comes to cryptocurrency there is generally lack of transparency even with its big and most popular projects don't think that is a valid point to label a project as a scam. Most people  fail into scam because  of promises too-good-to-be-true returns on investment cause many want to get rich real quick and they end up been scammed of their hard earned money. People should just be very careful and make good research before investing into any crypto-Projects that just it.

[Yamifoud]

I would rather look first if the project was backed by reputable VCs (venture capitalists) like Binance Labs, Pantera Capital, etc.

Regardless if that project has a nice looking website, Twitter (X) blue account with many followers and engagements, etc., as long there are no venture capitalists claimed to back then, I won’t be investing or engaging on that.

Unverified smart contracts are also a sign of red flag like the latest allegation against Trait Sniper. Many people are going FOMO mode into that airdrop but with many red flags such as their Discord verification pointing towards a phishing site, wallet drainer, etc.

Many factors that we can consider if the project is scam aside from the few points made by the OP.

But unfortunately, most of the time investors never spend a few minutes reading the whole concept of the project and know who are the people behind it because what is in their mind is focusing on their false promise. If you can see earning xxx in a few days, many people got crazy with that offer not analyzing whether it was a scam or not. That is why we can stop these scammers and still see a number of investors become a victim.
Sad to say but, it was too sorry for those who no ability to determine a scam project/s but I encourage them to try opening their eyes and analyze the project first before investing.

[Yatsan]

Totally agreed with all the reasons above  except the lack of transparency cause when it comes to cryptocurrency there is generally lack of transparency even with its big and most popular projects don't think that is a valid point to label a project as a scam. Most people  fail into scam because  of promises too-good-to-be-true returns on investment cause many want to get rich real quick and they end up been scammed of their hard earned money. People should just be very careful and make good research before investing into any crypto-Projects that just it.

You'd only know a project is fraud or scam once they have shown their motives. Therefore, no such thing as transparency would be there to help us out on determining which is 'which'. Labelling a project as scam would be only an acuse unless things are proven and that is also the point wherein that project will no longer mind the label. Just unfortunate.

I would rather look first if the project was backed by reputable VCs (venture capitalists) like Binance Labs, Pantera Capital, etc.

Regardless if that project has a nice looking website, Twitter (X) blue account with many followers and engagements, etc., as long there are no venture capitalists claimed to back then, I won’t be investing or engaging on that.

Unverified smart contracts are also a sign of red flag like the latest allegation against Trait Sniper. Many people are going FOMO mode into that airdrop but with many red flags such as their Discord verification pointing towards a phishing site, wallet drainer, etc.

Many factors that we can consider if the project is scam aside from the few points made by the OP.

But unfortunately, most of the time investors never spend a few minutes reading the whole concept of the project and know who are the people behind it because what is in their mind is focusing on their false promise. If you can see earning xxx in a few days, many people got crazy with that offer not analyzing whether it was a scam or not. That is why we can stop these scammers and still see a number of investors become a victim.
Sad to say but, it was too sorry for those who no ability to determine a scam project/s but I encourage them to try opening their eyes and analyze the project first before investing.

Rule should be; if it is too good to be true then we should all be cautious on engaging into it. However  people keeps on falling from such 'scheme' simply because of the belief that projects would often be a shortcut to success and huge profit. But as we all know, that's not true. There are ways to check for credibility but there's no way we could figure things out in a single glance of the project.

[serjent05]

It is really difficult to predict which projects are going to be scams. But even if you can't identify completely, I think you can try to identify something or if you follow some basic things, you don't have to fall into the trap of these scammers.  For example, whether their white papers are correct, then whether their various sources are correct, who are they projecting.  Or they are getting certified from any organization. And scams tend to be mostly new coins so it is better to avoid them

It is not difficult to predict which projects are going to be a scam, we can always look at the new emerging projects as a scam.  It is how to prove that the project is legit and is the most difficult one.  Since most incoming projects are often overpromised and they always present exaggerated bios of their developers.  It is somehow hard to gather information about the validity of those claims. I have seen too many crypto project that looks legit but turned out to be a scam, they even have beautiful website presentation and even lots of members and followers on their social media channel.

[savetheFORUM]

Well, I would tell that the market is soo tricky and these scammers are too clever as well. They are smarter than us because even we know that these are the ways to determine scam projects but guess what, they're making another way to gain trust and to fall for their evil plan. In fact, as you can see still a lot of people had fallen into scam projects meaning, no matter how we spread things like this, they still win and can't rid of them. Honestly, when it comes to money, people become a fool and this is how scammers do.

This will at least let the newbies know the previous or already existing ways those scammers use, and with time, all of their tactics will come out one by one, and discussing those tactics will help new people who are unaware of them gain knowledge and be safe from them. I know this works because I have been a victim of a lot of scams in the past because I didn't know anything about them, but now that I know everything, I won't fall for them.

So people who enter the cryptocurrency market newly should first do some research before getting involved with any project and invest their money in it, because as you said, scammers can be everywhere, but there will always be someone who will find a clue that will reveal their real identity to the public.

[wxa7115]

Rule should be; if it is too good to be true then we should all be cautious on engaging into it. However  people keeps on falling from such 'scheme' simply because of the belief that projects would often be a shortcut to success and huge profit. But as we all know, that's not true. There are ways to check for credibility but there's no way we could figure things out in a single glance of the project.

Once the beliefs of a person have been formed it is very difficult to change them, so if they believe it is possible to invest in a single project and make a fortune in a short amount of time then regardless of our warnings they will not change their mind, and if anything they could get even more stubborn and try to show us that we are on the wrong.

Only once they have tried several times to achieve their goal and failed that is when they will be more open to change their mistaken beliefs, and even then it is not a sure thing they will, as they could get desperate due to the losses they have suffered and they may keep investing in those coins trying to recover the money they have lost already.

[cute nmp]

Agreed with all the points you have given all can be an indicator of weather a cryptocurrency project is scam or not.But its rear to find transparency in any cryptocurrency project ,one should just make a very good research before investing in any project to avoid scams .

[TheUltraElite]

Two years is a very long period in my opinion, because a project that isn't legit and doesn't have strong fundamentals won't even survive a few months after it has been released in the market. The team if isn't professional and experienced won't be able to keep the project going as per their roadmap and there will be uncertainty seen by their followers and there will be a lack of proper management which will give it all away and investors and the public will come to know about their reality.

But that is exactly my point here.

If the project is legit, they will be able to cross this observation period and prosper. On the other hand scum projects will get washed away and keep investors safe if they are willing to screen them and not go for high-risk-short-term profits.

What makes this difficult to determine is that most projects remain in the market but in the background the owners have abandoned them and are ghosting the social media. Its a wild west and takes a big safety net to check out the bad ones.

[Joseph-P]

It is really difficult to predict which projects are going to be scams. But even if you can't identify completely, I think you can try to identify something or if you follow some basic things, you don't have to fall into the trap of these scammers.  For example, whether their white papers are correct, then whether their various sources are correct, who are they projecting.  Or they are getting certified from any organization. And scams tend to be mostly new coins so it is better to avoid them

It is not difficult to predict which projects are going to be a scam, we can always look at the new emerging projects as a scam.  It is how to prove that the project is legit and is the most difficult one.  Since most incoming projects are often overpromised and they always present exaggerated bios of their developers.  It is somehow hard to gather information about the validity of those claims. I have seen too many crypto project that looks legit but turned out to be a scam, they even have beautiful website presentation and even lots of members and followers on their social media channel.

To be fair, the market is congested now and projects often need to warrant to basic tactics like the exaggerated bios and stuff. I've personally witnessed some projects with great use-cases that struggled to attract users and investors until they warranted to hype and exaggerated info. Not that I'm supporting using that to exploit people, but I dont think it deserves to be graded as a scam tactic.

[palle11]

To be fair, the market is congested now and projects often need to warrant to basic tactics like the exaggerated bios and stuff. I've personally witnessed some projects with great use-cases that struggled to attract users and investors until they warranted to hype and exaggerated info. Not that I'm supporting using that to exploit people, but I dont think it deserves to be graded as a scam tactic.

For me I'm yet to see such project with great use case and not growing by attracting investors just like other projects that are good have done. Agreed that during bear season coins may not do well as panic will increase especially if btc is down but if it bulls then such project can embark on strategic marketing, new synergy to renew its community base. Most times the exchange where a coin is listed can be important. Listing a great use case coin in binance will surely bring great volume because binance is well visited and that is what some project require to grow .

[DLagarde]

Fake Social Media Presence: Some scam projects create fake social media profiles and followers to give the illusion of community support.

[serjent05]

To be fair, the market is congested now and projects often need to warrant to basic tactics like the exaggerated bios and stuff. I've personally witnessed some projects with great use-cases that struggled to attract users and investors until they warranted to hype and exaggerated info. Not that I'm supporting using that to exploit people, but I dont think it deserves to be graded as a scam tactic.

For me I'm yet to see such project with great use case and not growing by attracting investors just like other projects that are good have done. Agreed that during bear season coins may not do well as panic will increase especially if btc is down but if it bulls then such project can embark on strategic marketing, new synergy to renew its community base. Most times the exchange where a coin is listed can be important. Listing a great use case coin in binance will surely bring great volume because binance is well visited and that is what some project require to grow .

Most of the crypto projects that are being launched are more on a theoretical approach.  Many of them are unrealistic the reason why we rarely see a project that has even a use case.  Most of them should be considered a scam until they have proven themselves, not a scam.  I used to be an altcoin person but due to the events where many new altcoin projects are created to scam people, I started avoiding them and just focused on the cryptocurrencies that are legit and proven ones.