First of all, you need to do a background check of the said ICO. Start with their developers, do a profile check if they are really involve in that certain project. Check the website and the plans (e.g. whitepapers, mission and visions) with this you can see if those company are actually trying and doing their best to make their company grow. You can join their community if they are active and see their dedication and service to their followers.
I had to track a project office in 2018 and discovered it didn't exist, it was a facade. Most of these teams have fake profiles or fake addresses. When I tried talking about it in their telegram group, I was removed. Doing a thorough check on team members and their supposed partnerships is very important. If for instance a supposed partnership is fake, then the team is not to be trusted.
Absolutely, most of the scam projects make the use of fake addresses and profile to make them safe by not leaving any traces. Therefore we always have to check the location of the project and verify it is in the same place as per the team has provided on its official address. It is a very helpful strategy to understand the status of the project.