Choose the best project before doing an investment. It is so important to research first and check the updates if it is real or just a Scam ICO. We cannot identify it easily but by monitoring the project we can surely identify it.
Research. That's all you have to do to dodge a bullet. I mean, how good can a scammer can possibly be. Obviously a scammer isn't able to write a good whitepaper (we're talking about ICO scammers) so by reading the WP of the project, you can easily avoid getting scammed. Just think of it. If a scammer is intelligent enough to set up a believable whitepaper and a believable website and has come up to a good concept for an ICO, then he's just going to setup an actual ICO which can make him rich in the coming years without having to deceive people.
Funny because by just looking at the website especially the "about" part of their website, you can easily see if it's a legit ICO. If the advisers are some known advisors and they actually confirm that they are advising that ICO, then the chance of you getting scammed is lessened (but not non-existent). There are ICOs where the "about" photos are pictures of random people and there's one time when there was just a drawing of people lol.
Bottomline, scamming is just about details. The more convincing your deal is, the more people you can scam. On the other hand, people with such good knowledge will be doing legit things to make money and not just commit basic scams for money. They can do better. So we're left off with scammers that aren't really that good.
(Of course I'm talking about internet scammers. There are scammers IRL that are really intelligent and was able to pull-off one huge scam.)