Topic: How to detect a scam ICO? - page 7. (Read 2531 times)

That project looks like a scam as well since they are changing the payments from Bitcoin to something else. I would invest in it if it featured Bitcoin only transactions.

Look for a highly transparent team with a track record, and strong community engagement. Highly respectable when routinely engaged in very a personable manner, such as how https://www.monetha.io/ did and still does post-ICO via weekly YouTube video updates. Very impressed by them.

Of course, if their platform is already built, that's less risky, and having active business development & user adoption is the next milestone.  Since most ICOs still raise on a concept, this is a factor, but not as important as the team.

In our case, our current CHEX Token sale has utility for an already developed platform, that is beta launched with growing user interest. Please have a look, and we appreciate feedback comments:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.21120617

All the best,

Eugene Lopin
The CHEX

Agreed, the ones raising on a concept are riskier on paper, and then look to the team and their track record heavily.  Our current CHEX token sale has a developed platform (started in 2014) and beta launched, with user interest growing:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2112470.msg21120617#msg21120617

I think to detect the scam ICO is now a bit difficult because of too much ICO,  but the important think is to know their team founder's profile, its true they are really solid and professional, read the white paper carefully whether the project really can solve a problem.  Also sharing with professional advicer and look for other review in youtube, forum in here or github.

Seaching and finding more before invest! Don't see only infomation!

Dear it is very difficult.

But i think we have some of way.

first research and check it's 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 you will visit official website.
Most important who is the campaign manager?   

Its very easy to detect a scam ico the number one thing you have to consider is the dev behind the coin,  are they real and open to the investorsinvestors.  Secondly their roadmap.

Thanks Sr. What you said was really helpful. I'm still thinking and seeking some infos specially when it comes to scam ICOs. We cannot prevent it though what I do is study the ico first before I join in.

Research every bit of information about the ICO in thorough detail. Go through every team member (If there are team members) and every link to do with the project, if there doesn't seem to be much information or no leads about anything to do with it then I would assume it is made up out of thin air and probably a scam. Of course this isn't the case for all projects like this but the majority I have seen seem to be scams, and I fell for one a few years ago but only sent 0.04 BTC at the time it wasn't much at all. Don't buy into Hype, as you will probably just end up losing money. Take time to research and don't invest until you are certain and if you aren't just avoid it, there will be other ICOs to invest in.

I just use my handy flow chart.  It looks something like this.

                                           Is this a scam?
                                                      l
                                                      l   
                                          I'm not sure.  Is it an ICO?
                                                         l
                                           -------------------------
                                           l                               l
                                   No, not an ICO.               Yes,it's an ICO. 
                                            l                                   l
                                            l                                   l
                                       probably a scam.           Yes,it's a scam. 

Find out who is from the team of a project. Are they real true? Or they are just a scam. if they are real they certainly have social media to communicate or other.

1. Trust your instinct:
If something appears too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.
If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't right.

2. Never believe the hype, do your own research and do not rely on the opinions of others:
Most people have a vested interest of some description.
Either driven by investment, greed, bounties and site traffic.

3. Use real-world standards of due diligence:
If someone knocked on your door and said I have a great business plan, Bill Gates loves it, here's a photo of the highly qualified team and here's a bloke called Dave who thinks it's a great investment and this time next year we'll be millionaires - you wouldn't hand over a month's salary, would you!?

Specifically, things like:

(a) Support, partnerships and contracts with well-known brands:
If someone claims to have support, a partnership or contract with a well-known brand ask for verified proof: a contract, announcement from the brand or an article from a trusted news source.
Every time I have challenged these claims they turn out to be untrue or tenuous at best.

e.g. Hero Token claimed to have the support of Alibaba
It turns out that Pawn Hero, an already established business, received start-up funding from an investment arm of Alibaba. Alibaba was not funding or endorsing the Pawn Hero ICO.

(b)Can you verify the team:
Do they exist, are their credentials correct and are they really connected to the project?
For me, they need to be on LinkedIn (or similar), possibly media profile, linked to an institution, publication or other online profile and I need to have made contact / spoken to the team directly.
Wagerr is a good example of a team that is legitimate. The CEO checked out and engaged with me on day one. To be fair, so did the CEO of Pawn Hero.
Scam teams should be easy to spot.
I once emailed a highly qualified Chinese lawyer - he knew nothing about the project and was livid to see his photo on the ICO website.
CEOs of legitimate businesses engage with their shareholders.

4. Do the team give the impression that it can deliver?
What is the team's track-record?
Do they have a working product or any sign of progress?

5. Do the team provide regular updates and meet their milestones?
Credibility is really important.
Sometimes, particularly when a project is a first, things will slip. A good team will keep you posted and have a good reason for a delay.

6. Does the project look professional?
Does the ICO, website, white paper, engagement and communication give the impression of a team that can deliver?
We are talking about ground-breaking projects with the potential to change the world.
If they can't design a decent website or run a well though ICO...

7. Who controls the tokens and is the project centralised or decentralised?
If the team control the majority of token or the project is centralised the market can easier be manipulated - against investors and in favour of the team.

8. What is the team's attitude?
I only do business with people I like and can trust.
SALT threatened to boot me from their telegram because they had a rule that investors were not allowed to speculate about the post-ICO token price!
I'm not saying that SALT is a scam, but really! Needless to say, not a team for me.

9. Major rewards for the team should e held in escrow
If the team become millionaires overnight at ICO, where is the motivation to succeed?
A team should have their operating costs calculated pre-ICO and only need enough, initially, to make its milestone.
Additional rewards should be linked to success/completion of milestones.

10. Only trust reliable sources of information
Fake news is easy to create (and can look quite convincing) and some sources will literally publish anything.
Is this source reliable? Don't be afraid to contact the journalist or company.

11. How does the team respond to challenging but sensible questions?
A genuine team will engage and do their best to answer.
A scam team will avoid answering the question or most probably ban you from the forum.

12. When you find a good team and credible project, be patience
Good projects will take time to deliver.
Scams often want you to believe that you can get rich quick e.g. +550% in 4 weeks (with no working project of evidence of work). It's hype and will fail relatively quickly. That said, even if it is a scam, it is possible to make a few quid in the short-term. However, morally, I couldn't invest in a scam.
The best rewards will come to those who wait, most probably 2-5 years time.

Happy investing  .

I believe with a GOOD research on the internet and forums discussions you will detect which one is scam.

quite difficult to detect where ICO is scam, because greed can happen anytime, although dev has the seriousness to run their project, they could be a scam when gaining huge crowdfunding, so luck will be a little play, try to follow the information from some big players

Nowadays even a serious projects can be scam. Before investing - need to do some research ICO project very closely.

It is hard to tell that nowadays. The scammers are kind of already mastered mixing along very well with the true ones. But just try your best in reading and understanding the project's whitepaper. Try to check the members of the team and their background and then contact them through their official communication lines.

Yeah I agree and when its too good to be true then you should better be careful.
Over promise comes with under deliver is one of the strategy of some ICO and you should also consider the team behind it if it's credible and trustworthy as I see many ICO now are started good but turned out scam.

The purpose of ico to raised the money to keep the development still running,  maybe you are forgetting it right now. A lot of the project just released the pre alpha as the example for the product.