This is my first time finding out a scam project. Please do let me know if i missed something.
What happened:: Fake Team, Plagarized Whitepaper, Recently created website using themeforest template and mentioning partners without even knowing them. (Basically, they were inspired and copied useful information such as logo, etc from their so-mentioned partners.)
Scammers Profile Link: https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/isikc-2734195Website: https://www.isikc.io/Archive: http://archive.md/QnOhpANN thread: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/ann-isiklar-coin-isikc-where-deep-traditions-meet-innovation-5210369Archive: http://archive.md/dkmwF
Fake Team
What happened: Firstly, they didn't even bother to mention images of their team members. By digging each of their team members details on LinkedIn i found out that only one of them(Hale Demirman) who is their legal advisor is actually related to their project but only has 12 connections which basically is a dummy profile. I can't search alternate image of that profile so it would be great if any one of you can dig out about her if she is real. Rest all of the team members have no actual connection with their project.
Links to LinkedIn profiles of the team: Nikolay Momchilov (CEO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikolay-momchilov-90442830 (Has no relation)
Yaman Parar (CFO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaman-parar-596439 (Has no relation)
Volkan Girisken(CBDO): https://www.linkedin.com/in/volkan-girisken-3100a012 (Has no relation)
Hale Demirman(Legal advisor): https://www.linkedin.com/in/hale-salgirboyu-demirman-946a0691 (Fake profile)
Plagarized Whitepaper
What happened: Most of the Whitepaper is Plagarized. (Mentioned few sources below)
Whitepaper: https://www.isikc.io/assets/wpen.pdfArchive: http://archive.is/7MyVK (I tried to archive it but perhaps it isn't working. Can anyone help me on this?)
From their Whitepaper Page 3 and 4
2. ISIKC Mission - Customer Loyalty Programs Need an Upgrade
In commerce , it is usually quick and easy for a consumer to sign up for a retailer’s loyalty program. But how many of your customers are actually becoming a loyal advocate to the brand?
Traditional loyalty programs suffer from the following issues that we believe that we ISIKC can solve.
2. 1. Low redemption rates.
Perhaps because of the large number of loyalty programs in the market, it’s easy for them to get lost in the shuffle, and points go unredeemed. Surveys show that the average American is a member of 7 loyalty programs, and 30% of American consumers never redeem a single point. Until those points expire (if they ever do), they just sit there as a liability on a brand’s bottom line, having failed at earning repeat business.
2.2. High costs.
Large stores and successful ecommerce shops often pay high prices to setup and maintain their third-party integrations or custom solutions for customer loyalty programs. Whether they are making adjustments to an existing app or building their own from scratch, developer 4 and maintenance fees can range from $2K – $15K a month for an enterprise-level solution. Understandably, if you are not seeing a strong ROI from reward program costs, it’s not worth it to keep the program.
2.3. Few customer incentives.
Today’s loyalty programs tend to favor the company providing them, instead of the consumer. For example, customers are forced to make purchases they don’t need in order to reap the rewards. Research also indicates that 33% of millennial consumers dislike reward programs simply because there are too many cards to carry. If your loyalty program isn’t fostering a positive relationship with your consumers, what’s the point of it?
2.4. Security concerns.
Some consumers may be wary of data breaches and the security of the information they give out when joining a loyalty program. A Harris Poll found that 71% of consumers were less likely to join a loyalty program that collected personal information beyond just name and phone number. They are right to have some concerns. In 2017, 11% of attacks on financial accounts were specifically on loyalty accounts, an amount that had risen from 4% the year before.
Original source:
https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/customer-loyalty-blockchain/#customer-loyalty-programs-need-an-upgradeCustomer Loyalty Programs Need an Upgrade
In ecommerce, it is usually quick and easy for a consumer to sign up for a retailer’s loyalty program. But how many of your customers are actually becoming a loyal advocate to the brand?
Traditional loyalty programs suffer from the following issues.
1. Low redemption rates.
Perhaps because of the large number of loyalty programs in the market, it’s easy for them to get lost in the shuffle, and points go unredeemed. Surveys show that the average American is a member of 7 loyalty programs, and 30% of American consumers never redeem a single point. Until those points expire (if they ever do), they just sit there as a liability on a brand’s bottom line, having failed at earning repeat business.
2. High costs.
Large stores and successful ecommerce shops often pay high prices to setup and maintain their third-party integrations or custom solutions for customer loyalty programs. Whether they are making adjustments to an existing app or building their own from scratch, developer and maintenance fees can range from $2K – $15K a month for an enterprise-level solution. Understandably, if you are not seeing a strong ROI from reward program costs, it’s not worth it to keep the program.
3. Few customer incentives.
Today’s loyalty programs tend to favor the company providing them, instead of the consumer. For example, customers are forced to make purchases they don’t need in order to reap the rewards.
Research also indicates that 33% of millennial consumers dislike reward programs simply because there are too many cards to carry. If your loyalty program isn’t fostering a positive relationship with your consumers, what’s the point of it?
4. Security concerns.
Some consumers may be wary of data breaches and the security of the information they give out when joining a loyalty program. A Harris Poll found that 71% of consumers were less likely to join a loyalty program that collected personal information beyond just name and phone number. They are right to have some concerns. In 2017, 11% of attacks on financial accounts were specifically on loyalty accounts, an amount that had risen from 4% the year before.
60% of their whitepaper is plagarized. Not mentioning each of them.Some of the original sources from where they copied the content: 10% :
https://crypto.com/chain_whitepaper_en10% :
https://medium.com/@mynrh76/you-must-obtain-all-necessary-professional-advice-82682bec124c4% :
https://www.advfn.com/stock-market/NYSE/CPE/stock-news/79239835/callon-petroleum-company-provides-2019-outlook-and4% :
https://www.linguee.ru/%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9-%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9/%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B4/does+not+intend+to+update+these+forward-looking+statements.html4% :
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nadl-chapter-11-plan-effective-181201333.html
Website details
What happened: They created their website on 2019-10-16 which is few months ago. Also the domain is registered for a year which is the minimum while purchasing the domain and only fake/ponzi projects do so.
source:
https://who.is/whois/isikc.ioDomain Name: isikc.io
Registry Domain ID: D503300001182008714-LRMS
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2019-10-16T10:49:38Z
Creation Date: 2019-10-16T10:49:37Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2020-10-16T10:49:37Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Another most important factor: They are using cheap themeforest theme as their website. Isn't this really cheap? Using a 12$ theme for such a huge project? They can't even afford hiring a web developer to develop a unique website.
(it was hard finding this theme
)
Website: https://www.isikc.io/Archive: http://archive.md/QnOhpHow i found it?: I digged their website source code and from their
stylesheet i found this
/*!
* Theme Name: ICOCrypto
* Author: Softnio
* Author URI: http://themeforest.net/user/softnio
* Version : 1.8.0
* Updated : 10.21.2019
**/
/**
This is where they bought their theme: https://themeforest.net/item/ico-crypto-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrency-landing-page/21352715?s_rank=6Check out this image: https://s3.envato.com/files/258387972/08_home_jasmine.jpg
Using fake partners
What happened: They are using fake partners on their website. What i think is that they were motivated to launch this fake project from their partners and mostly copied important phenomenons like logo, etc from their partners itself. If they were really supported by their partners then why didn't any of their partner mention about them on their platforms?
Them mentioning their partners: None of the partners mentioning them: (click on the image for source)