Ok.  So I'm brand new in the crypto world and have been studying it for a week.  I have a banking/finance background and have deep experience in evaluating management teams.

Some big "red flags" here:

1) This fork would be a massive change.  Every major exchange would have alot of "pain" resolving the fork and would have to prepare for the event.  The fact that the biggest exchanges are not talking about this, nor a lot of internet chatter is enough to discredit this.

2) Any management team of a fork this large would be well known and well publicized.  This marketing manager that no one knows and is new to the community is very, very concerning.  Sure, you can be pretty and smart but there is NOTHING about her experience.  If she's in marketing, she would be on here (and everywhere for that matter) to get their message out.  Doing a background search on the Szabo is equally concerning, although for other reasons.

3) This is minor but the website feels very suspicious.  From the URL to the partners.... there is very little to inspire confidence.  3 people on the steering committee?  No papers or research conclusions?  No discussion about support from miners?  The FAQ is 5 questions and barely not a single technical question.

Now.... my question to the community since I'm new... How does a scam like this benefit the people running it?  Create a fake altcoin, issue thousands (their free giveaway), and then hope the limited exchanges give it a pump for them to sell?  This really brings into question the validation process for their "partner" exchanges.