Topic: 🌍 Guidelines, how to spot a scam ICO & report effectively. ✔ (Read 2698 times)
Up afret a long time.
This is such a comprehensive guide that no serious individual should ignore.
Scams may be different in names but are same in operation
Scams may be different in names but are same in operation
I don't agree with many of your points but I'll touch on a few.
"free airdrop trap"- you must be new here but realize that many projects have had success with free distribution: Nano, NEM, Ripple, hell even bitcoin had free distribution in the early days.
Do you know meaning of trap? If no then learn first."free airdrop trap"- you must be new here but realize that many projects have had success with free distribution: Nano, NEM, Ripple, hell even bitcoin had free distribution in the early days.
Ya, looks like every single crypto is a scam if we go by OPs idiotic logic. My favorite is mixing name with existing coin, I'm sure this idiot op wouldn't turn down 1000 free bitcoin cash into his wallet, lol what an idiot.
Hello idiot! Show me how many dollars you earned from ICO starting with 2018. Both of you should learn first what is ICO, Hardfork, softfork, IEO, STO, and different between token and coins.
I don't agree with many of your points but I'll touch on a few.
"free airdrop trap"- you must be new here but realize that many projects have had success with free distribution: Nano, NEM, Ripple, hell even bitcoin had free distribution in the early days.
"no usage of token" Hate to break the news to you bud but most crypto is pure speculation, barely anyone is even using this stuff
"anonymous team" HELLO, satoshi was anonymous
"Mixing name with existing coin" Ok so you calling bitcoin cash, ethereum classic a scam? lol..........
"Disharmonious Distribution" Go look at how large a percentage of coins the ethereum foundation holds, same goes for ripple and those are the #2 and #3 cryptos
going by your rules, every crypto is a scam
"free airdrop trap"- you must be new here but realize that many projects have had success with free distribution: Nano, NEM, Ripple, hell even bitcoin had free distribution in the early days.
"no usage of token" Hate to break the news to you bud but most crypto is pure speculation, barely anyone is even using this stuff
"anonymous team" HELLO, satoshi was anonymous
"Mixing name with existing coin" Ok so you calling bitcoin cash, ethereum classic a scam? lol..........
"Disharmonious Distribution" Go look at how large a percentage of coins the ethereum foundation holds, same goes for ripple and those are the #2 and #3 cryptos
going by your rules, every crypto is a scam
Ya, looks like every single crypto is a scam if we go by OPs idiotic logic. My favorite is mixing name with existing coin, I'm sure this idiot op wouldn't turn down 1000 free bitcoin cash into his wallet, lol what an idiot.
I don't agree with many of your points but I'll touch on a few.
"free airdrop trap"- you must be new here but realize that many projects have had success with free distribution: Nano, NEM, Ripple, hell even bitcoin had free distribution in the early days.
"no usage of token" Hate to break the news to you bud but most crypto is pure speculation, barely anyone is even using this stuff
"anonymous team" HELLO, satoshi was anonymous
"Mixing name with existing coin" Ok so you calling bitcoin cash, ethereum classic a scam? lol..........
"Disharmonious Distribution" Go look at how large a percentage of coins the ethereum foundation holds, same goes for ripple and those are the #2 and #3 cryptos
going by your rules, every crypto is a scam
"free airdrop trap"- you must be new here but realize that many projects have had success with free distribution: Nano, NEM, Ripple, hell even bitcoin had free distribution in the early days.
"no usage of token" Hate to break the news to you bud but most crypto is pure speculation, barely anyone is even using this stuff
"anonymous team" HELLO, satoshi was anonymous
"Mixing name with existing coin" Ok so you calling bitcoin cash, ethereum classic a scam? lol..........
"Disharmonious Distribution" Go look at how large a percentage of coins the ethereum foundation holds, same goes for ripple and those are the #2 and #3 cryptos
going by your rules, every crypto is a scam
hi I agree with you regarding all of your points except this: Weak Community:
It is only true for old projects, with ICO projects, the criterion can not apply even we see huge community want to invest in a specific ICO. They mostly greedy to invest in ICO, but later, they might all go away after taking profits or taking losses. The best way to evaluate a project is to meet directly at the meeting.
Obviously this would be best way. But question is how many ICO's team members are ready for public meetup? Although we can see few teams meet with celebrity and post video or picture but publicly we can't see too much. Most of ICO's using fake team so how they will meet with public? That's the problem now a days. If team stay anonymous then that's different case, but using fake team is too dangerous.
This article is very useful, new members who can read this article can avoid scam ICOs. But for my own experience, when choosing ICO at this time, I usually give priority to the following two things:
1. At the present time, good and bad ICOs, scams mixed together, even if ico is good, it is not sure to mobilize capital successfully. So whether you are an investor or a bounty hunter, the key is to choose a successful ICO. I often check the project files on ICO evaluation sites, they will help us check the project file to avoid losing time.
2. The most important thing I need in an existing project is the organization of conferences, meetings, meeting partners to promote the project. The best way to evaluate a project is to meet directly at the meeting.
1. At the present time, good and bad ICOs, scams mixed together, even if ico is good, it is not sure to mobilize capital successfully. So whether you are an investor or a bounty hunter, the key is to choose a successful ICO. I often check the project files on ICO evaluation sites, they will help us check the project file to avoid losing time.
2. The most important thing I need in an existing project is the organization of conferences, meetings, meeting partners to promote the project. The best way to evaluate a project is to meet directly at the meeting.
Well there are some scam ico that can still beat all this characteristic.
I have been in an ico that looks so real and still ended up as a big time scam well I would just say you do you observation and still never trust an ico hundred percent
I have been in an ico that looks so real and still ended up as a big time scam well I would just say you do you observation and still never trust an ico hundred percent
One way to know a fake team is through a project that doesn't look feasible,just laden with promises and high expectations that you damn well know for sure that a new coin wouldn't be able to achieve this..
Yeah, better to stay away from projects which promise about high profits, bright future of token price. Whenever i read promises like these, it sounds like a ponzi scheme, i quit.Projects which prefer to talk about their products and technology are more worth to trust.
But how can we find out whether this team is fake or not. They can make fake team profile, i can not know about it. Is there any clear way to find out?
Yeah, you're correct,to an extent it's almost impossible to be 100% certain a team/ico is a scam, but it's very possible to make an attempt and be correct.If you study @OP'S guidelines thoroughly it'll aid you to spot a SCam ICo, so you can stay away from'em to avoid losing your money..
One way to know a fake team is through a project that doesn't look feasible,just laden with promises and high expectations that you damn well know for sure that a new coin wouldn't be able to achieve this..
great instruction. but to say shorter, the main marker in scum ICO is team. if there is some hint that the team is fake - better to stay away
But how can we find out whether this team is fake or not. They can make fake team profile, i can not know about it. Is there any clear way to find out? The article is now live - thanks again for the massive contributions you've made to make the community better
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-part-3-ico-research-d8e1abd48e8e
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-part-3-ico-research-d8e1abd48e8e
Thanks for help community. Keep it up.
The article is now live - thanks again for the massive contributions you've made to make the community better
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-part-3-ico-research-d8e1abd48e8e
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-part-3-ico-research-d8e1abd48e8e
As part of my series on Bitcointalk on hackernoon, I'll be writing part 3 - - Using BitcoinTalk for Evaluating ICOs
This thread will feature prominently, so thank you for putting this together and thank you everyone for keeping it uptodate
If you have any recommendations of what needs to be in the article please PM me
Here is part 1
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-bitcointalk-52148c14885c
And part 2
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-part-2-guide-for-newbies-f44d1ceabf06
This thread will feature prominently, so thank you for putting this together and thank you everyone for keeping it uptodate
If you have any recommendations of what needs to be in the article please PM me
Here is part 1
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-bitcointalk-52148c14885c
And part 2
https://hackernoon.com/satoshis-2nd-gift-part-2-guide-for-newbies-f44d1ceabf06
Bumping this thread for visibility. Knowing how to spot scam ICOs would prevent you from losing your money if you are an investor. Unsuccessful ICOs due to "WEAK COMMUNITY" will turn into a scam ICO if they want to and also ICO won't refund your money if you invested and their ICO failed. I'm sure this guide woukd surely help investors and bounty hunters spot ICO and report it.
Airdrop trap is the recent scam that I fear newbies into crypto are fallen into everyday. Airdrops sites mostly lead to phishing sites that will get away with your details to track your crytpo usage and funds availability. I recommend anyone using a brand new wallet for airdrop collection if you are addicted to it and find it hard to desist from it.
I appreciate the presence of such informative and assisting posts that lead the beginner investors and teach them the first steps that must be followed when they first research a project. Be it ICO or IPO.
This is a must bookmark post, or at least save the instructions provided by OP in a text book whereby any time you intend to invest in an ICO, you do your checklist properly.
This is a must bookmark post, or at least save the instructions provided by OP in a text book whereby any time you intend to invest in an ICO, you do your checklist properly.
hi I agree with you regarding all of your points except this: Weak Community:
Weak Community:
A strong community is the key of success. Even for existing coin, always need strong community to support them. With out community a token is useless. Say, a token listed on exchange, but there is no community for trade it. So who will buy your token ? Community need before ICO and also after ICO. But maximum project never care about community after crowd-sale. You can check their media environment to guess how strong their community. Community real or fake. You need observe it. Also how is their social activity. Only way to build community is social media. So you can gusses what is going on.
What you stated above i agree with you but if an ICO has a weak community that may be because of bad marketing.
and will not lead that the project is scam, project may delayed due to weak community and may face difficulty.
so pls you can remove the Weak Community from the condition of scam ICO.
and we can put weak community under the
unsuccessful ICO due to weak community.
thank you for your subject
Weak Community:
A strong community is the key of success. Even for existing coin, always need strong community to support them. With out community a token is useless. Say, a token listed on exchange, but there is no community for trade it. So who will buy your token ? Community need before ICO and also after ICO. But maximum project never care about community after crowd-sale. You can check their media environment to guess how strong their community. Community real or fake. You need observe it. Also how is their social activity. Only way to build community is social media. So you can gusses what is going on.
What you stated above i agree with you but if an ICO has a weak community that may be because of bad marketing.
and will not lead that the project is scam, project may delayed due to weak community and may face difficulty.
so pls you can remove the Weak Community from the condition of scam ICO.
and we can put weak community under the
unsuccessful ICO due to weak community.
thank you for your subject
September 28, 2018, 02:00:35 AM
I invest in ICO only when there are famous personalities in the development team who have already created something in their life, in general there are few such ICOs, it seems to me that smart scammers can make such ICO that it will be almost impossible to accuse them of scam in the stage of fundraising, and when there are eminent developers in the team, the likelihood of a scam is much lower, since they risk their reputation and it will be hard for them to hide with money, so in my opinion ICOs are building mostly on trust, so you have to trust people whom you are giving money.
September 28, 2018, 01:51:48 AM
Good list. Although I do not agree to some as I think there are some exceptions, some teams are forced to break earlier promises, but this should be a good guide that could help every investors. I wanted to give merit to this post but I have nothing left 
September 18, 2018, 03:34:34 PM
Snip
Thanks for remind it. Added on OP. I have experience about it. But unfortunately I forgot to add on OP.
September 16, 2018, 09:46:01 AM
You have a very nice guide going and I have one suggestion that you might want to add in your post. You should also add how their airdrops are ran as an indicator. Usually this scam ICOs also take advantage of people who are aiming to have their tokens for "free" but mostly they are being lured in their trap. Some of their trap consists of asking for their private keys, having some kind of donation in order to "verify that its their wallet", and even some kind of KYC requirement before they send the tokens but what really is happening is they are stealing from you.
September 16, 2018, 07:37:11 AM
Sorry about the faux pas. Thanks for the heads up.
September 16, 2018, 07:12:26 AM
With your permission (and of course a linked citation), we'd like to incorporate some of your advice into our article.
The article itself will be under creative commons with no content gates
The article itself will be under creative commons with no content gates
Permitted, you can use content from this post. This is for help people's so you are free to use it. On the others hand it will be much appriceated if someone translate it local board , if course you should add original reference link. So that every one will know the processor.
For your info, don't qoute whole thread for reply. It's not looking good.
September 15, 2018, 03:42:22 AM
Thanks Coolcryptovator, i didn't concern about domain before while researching about ICO. It's obviously that ICO that has domain registration below 1 year is very very suspicious.
September 12, 2018, 06:48:11 AM
I think you cover everything! Very impressive.
If anyone is interested, I go more into detail on how to spot an ICO scam here: http://www.coinisseur.com/what-to-look-for-in-an-ico/
I cover fewer points than the original post but provide more details regarding the most important things mentioned in it
I also looked into what academia has to say about ICOs. Not many sources yet, but some interesting points were made.
If anyone is interested, I go more into detail on how to spot an ICO scam here: http://www.coinisseur.com/what-to-look-for-in-an-ico/
I cover fewer points than the original post but provide more details regarding the most important things mentioned in it
I also looked into what academia has to say about ICOs. Not many sources yet, but some interesting points were made. September 09, 2018, 01:54:03 PM
It is good to suggest that many newbie are victims of scams, and now scams are becoming more and more embarrassing because they are not regulated, so it is very necessary for newbie to provide a way to avoid being cheated.
September 05, 2018, 07:37:13 AM
Well done, we needed something like this posted here. I think you are covering all the most important points on how to spot a scam.
More people read this post, more scams will be uncovered.
More people read this post, more scams will be uncovered.
September 05, 2018, 03:46:11 AM
This would help protect iinvestors and bounty hunters alike from scam projects.
And never simply follow the recommendations of others, be it a crypto influencer or enthusiast.
And never simply follow the recommendations of others, be it a crypto influencer or enthusiast.
One of the ways to avoid scam ICO is to follow on the money. It means you purchase token only if some reputable fund, investor or project participates in ICO.
Its really hard this days with icos, there are so many scammers out there. A friend showed me an ico that seems to be good, and a couple of weeks later they took all the money and left the coin, thats why I dont like to invest in icos, maybe when we have more tools to know when you are seeing a scam project, people is going to invest more in them.
great instruction. but to say shorter, the main marker in scum ICO is team. if there is some hint that the team is fake - better to stay away
Also, if there is a community manager that asks you to buy the coins from a link and not from the ICO company's website, that is most likely a scam.
All that mentioned is the indicators to detect Scam ICO but can only discover after a fake/hide/unknown developer team or copy/paste of site/whitepaper or the occurrence of a scam.
One of the most important indicators, in my opinion, is the amount of spending on promotion, campaigns/ICOs that pay from shit-tokens and reveal a little information is a scam one.
In general, do not invest in any ICO.
One of the most important indicators, in my opinion, is the amount of spending on promotion, campaigns/ICOs that pay from shit-tokens and reveal a little information is a scam one.
In general, do not invest in any ICO.
Great advice! I also investigated a few ICOs a few weeks ago. I arrive at basically the same conclusions, but I use actual examples of scam ICOs.
http://www.coinisseur.com/biggest-ico-scams-and-lessons-learned/
And I'm still perplexed at the sheer number of scams present within ICOs. And the audacity of some of them.
http://www.coinisseur.com/biggest-ico-scams-and-lessons-learned/
And I'm still perplexed at the sheer number of scams present within ICOs. And the audacity of some of them.
Are you asking to report about SCAM ICOs which satisfy all the parameters above (red flags) or just one of them?
If you found any kind of scam ICO please report it on Scam Accusation board by following above format. It will help us to save money.
Every one free to use or translate my content with the reference link. I will never claim it. Just need to help people. Visit exposed Scam list by me .
I don't know if there are other guidelines to spot scam ICO. I can't found an appropriate topic. Anyway, everyone has their own thought & and experience. I am going to share my thought and experience, How to spot a scam ICO . Also A simple search could save lot of money from ICO scammers .
As well everyone knows what is ICO/crowd-sale. In short description, ICO or crowd-sale is one of the famous fundraising opportunities from people's.
I always care about some point before spot a scam ICO. I will describe below:
However, about domain registration, another point is the owner's identity. If there is no owner identity on domain information obviously there is risk involvement. That means they use a service to protect identity. Although most ICO hides their identity, some of them are got success. It doesn't mean all ICO will be successful. So consider research about domain information before investing an ICO. You can use Whois website to find all information about the domain.
So please check the team also carefully before investing in an ICO.
So don't miss to read whitepaper before investing in ICO. Although personally, I don't like to invest in ICO. But people are doing that. However, I never encourage you to invest in ICO personally. This topic just to spot scam ICO. So if you can spot any scam ICO that means you are saving lots of investors funds.
For example; I have a construction company and I need funds to expand it. I choose to raise funds by creating an ICO, so how you are going to benefit from my project? So it's not a real concept for investors.
However, I just share what is on my mind and how I spot scam ICO. I can't give any guaranty who will scam. Someone asked me how I spot scam ICO, that's why thought creates this topic.
Apologize for broken English. If you found anything wrong here or you want to add any option, let me know. I will glad to modify it.
Preview of Scam Report format for ICO:
Preview of Scam Report format for ICO
ICO Name:
Scammer Website:
Archived Website:
ICO status: (Exit / Live / upcoming )
Bitcointalk Profile:
ANN Tread:
Archived ANN:
Bounty Thread :
Archived Bounty:
Valid Reason of Accusation:
Describe briefly about accusation with solid proof/image/screenshots :
Source links:
Linkedln/profile Link of the team with name:
Domain Information:
I don't know if there are other guidelines to spot scam ICO. I can't found an appropriate topic. Anyway, everyone has their own thought & and experience. I am going to share my thought and experience, How to spot a scam ICO . Also A simple search could save lot of money from ICO scammers .
As well everyone knows what is ICO/crowd-sale. In short description, ICO or crowd-sale is one of the famous fundraising opportunities from people's.
I always care about some point before spot a scam ICO. I will describe below:
- Domain Information.
- Unprofessional Website Design.
- Website Content Plagiarism/Stolen.
- Fake Developers/Core Team.
- Plagiarism & Unprofessional Whitepaper.
- Corrupted Roadmap.
- Existing Businesses.
- No Real Concept .
- No usage of Token.
- Disharmonious Token Distribution.
- Weak Community.
- Breaking Own Made Rules.
- No Repositories.
- No Technological Explanation.
- High Return Promises.
- No Real Dev's Profile link.
- Fake Partnership.
- Highlights Fake Database.
- Bad Promotional Strategy.
- Greedy Offers.
- No Reputation on social media/crypto forum.
- Mixing Token Name With Existing Coin
- No Clear Explanation use of raised fund.
- Discrepant Hard Cap / Soft Cap.
- Discrepant Total Supply
- Low Quality Smart Contract.
- Email Spamming.
- Low Security.
- Free Airdrop Trap.
- Report a scam ICO effectively.
- Domain Information:
However, about domain registration, another point is the owner's identity. If there is no owner identity on domain information obviously there is risk involvement. That means they use a service to protect identity. Although most ICO hides their identity, some of them are got success. It doesn't mean all ICO will be successful. So consider research about domain information before investing an ICO. You can use Whois website to find all information about the domain.
- Unprofessional Website Design:
- Website Content Plagiarism/Stolen:
- Fake Developer/Core Team:
So please check the team also carefully before investing in an ICO.
- Plagiarism & Unprofessional Whitepaper:
So don't miss to read whitepaper before investing in ICO. Although personally, I don't like to invest in ICO. But people are doing that. However, I never encourage you to invest in ICO personally. This topic just to spot scam ICO. So if you can spot any scam ICO that means you are saving lots of investors funds.
- Corrupted Roadmap:
- Existing businesses:
- No Real Concept:
For example; I have a construction company and I need funds to expand it. I choose to raise funds by creating an ICO, so how you are going to benefit from my project? So it's not a real concept for investors.
- No Usage of Token:
- Disharmonious Token Distribution:
- Weak Community:
- Breaking Own Made Rules:
- No Repositories:
- No Technological Explanation:
- High Return Promises:
- No Real Dev's Profile link:
- Fake Partnership:
- Highlights Fake Database:
- Bad Promotional Strategy:
- Greedy Offers:
- No Reputation on social media/crypto forum:
- Mixing Token Name With Existing Coin:
- No Clear Explanation use of raised fund:
- Discrepant Hard Cap / Soft Cap:
- Discrepant Total Supply:
- Low Quality Smart Contract:
- Email Spamming:
- Low Security:
However, I just share what is on my mind and how I spot scam ICO. I can't give any guaranty who will scam. Someone asked me how I spot scam ICO, that's why thought creates this topic.
Apologize for broken English. If you found anything wrong here or you want to add any option, let me know. I will glad to modify it.
- Free Airdrop Trap:
Report a scam ICO effectively
There is a Scam Report Format on pin post. I believe it was created to report scammer of forum members. Its not look like much appropriate for report a scam ICO. However I has created a format below, everyone free to use if want.Accusations Formats of Scam ICO
Preview of Scam Report format for ICO:
Code:
[b]ICO Name:[/b]
[b]Scammer Website:[/b]
[b]Archived Website:[/b]
[b]ICO status:[/b] (Exit / Live / upcoming )
[b]Bitcointalk Profile:[/b]
[b]ANN Tread:[/b]
[b]Archived ANN:[/b]
[b]Bounty Thread :[/b]
[b]Archived Bounty:[/b]
[b]Valid Reason of Accusation:[/b]
[b]Describe briefly about accusation with solid proof: [/b]
[b]Source links :[/b]
[b]Linkedln/profile Link of the team with name:[/b]
[b]Domain Information[/b]:
Preview of Scam Report format for ICO
ICO Name:
Scammer Website:
Archived Website:
ICO status: (Exit / Live / upcoming )
Bitcointalk Profile:
ANN Tread:
Archived ANN:
Bounty Thread :
Archived Bounty:
Valid Reason of Accusation:
Describe briefly about accusation with solid proof/image/screenshots :
Source links:
Linkedln/profile Link of the team with name:
Domain Information:
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