Scam. This word gets thrown around a lot and is beginning to lose it's original meaning. Two years ago scam meant that someone was being ripped off, usually for money. Today people all over Twitter use it when something goes wrong in with a coin. Price goes down? SCAM! Development delayed? SCAM! Developer doesn't answer a post in a timely manner? SCAM!
For a scam to happen you have to be deprived of something of value, like money or another type of cryptocurrency. Most of the time the scammers want your BTC or ETH.
Here is a list of things to watch out for when considering an ICO.
Does the ICO itself and the team behind it all have verifiable and active social media profiles? If the answer is no, do not invest. You will want to check Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN. If they are claiming to be professional this or that then look for proof on LinkedIN. If their Facebook profiles all have stock imagery and was created the week before the ICO launch then it's a scam.
Does the website, whitepaper, announcement or have spelling or grammatical errors? If yes, you need to take another look. Errors in grammar could be due to a language barrier or inexperience. Someone serious about their project will have proofed their work and there should be zero errors. Another consideration when poking around a projects website are dead links. Does the reddit button take you to a 404 page? Do not invest.
An example of a slick looking scam website, go to oxfina.com. It's a very slick site, but there are spelling errors and some of the terminology is confusing. Their 'team' is identified only by the first name and therefore unable to be tracked via social media. The team went missing after the token distribution. No activity until recently, and whoever is posting on their Facebook and Twitter are not answering questions. It's safe to say Ox Fina is a scam token.
Now, there are always exceptions to the rule. Projectcastle.tech (CSTL) has a mistake on their whitepaper, they mispelled Masternodes as Masternosed. Since both words have red underlines I can see why this mistake was easy to make. The CSTL team is also very active on social media. I wouldn't hold a single misspelled word against a project, but if there is a pattern of it, you should consider that a red flag.
Whatever project you are interested in joining, always take a step back and due your due diligence. Don't get caught up in the hype you see on Twitter. You will have a better chance of turning a profit on a given transaction if you do your due diligence on the project itself.
As the concept for this article was taking shape I was contacted by a team-member of Castle and was asked if I wanted to work for their marketing department. In the interests of full disclosure, I accepted the position on a trial basis.
