Unfortunately, because of the unregulated nature of the ICOs and the sheer amount of money to be made in this space, it does attract a lot of scammers. If you are investing in an ICO then you would want some assurances on your end that all the funds that you are going to invest are going to be used in a right way. So what should you be looking into when you are about to invest to make sure that you are not going to get scammed?


The project developers should be able to clearly define the purpose of their project using simple and short sentences. If they are taking too much time and beating around the bush, then that either means: their agenda is not clear or they are hiding something. Both of which are not that encouraging scenarios.
 
Make sure that the developers are not anonymous. There should be 100% transparency when it comes to their names, business plans, locations etc. You should be able to contact them regarding any and all information that you need to get from them.
 

There should be a legal framework between the developers and the contributors including terms and conditions set for the ICO.
 

Lastly, and most importantly, you need to make sure that the ICO funds are being stored in an escrow wallet. An escrow wallet is basically a multi-sig wallet which needs multiple keys to be opened. One of those keys must be held by a neutral third party.
 

If you keep these 4 points in mind, then you will be able to spot the scammers with relative ease and invest in projects which have real potential.