Maybe try not to get scammed by ICOs. Start here.

@kyriacos wrote a funny satire today about how to get scammed in 5 easy steps. If you haven't read it or follow him, do yourself a favor and look him up. The post is here.

As it is the case with most humor...it's funny because it's true. It's very easy to get caught up in your own delusions, fantasies and dreams and leave your rational brain at the door. Who needs that guy anyway, he's a party-pooper!

This was a post that I long wanted to write, one small step in my quest to try to share as much of my basic knowledge as I can. It's mostly written for new people but I'm sure even a seasoned veteran can get something out of it, even if it's just some head nodes in my direction. THAT being said, please share your own tips or correct me if I'm wrong!

Dictionary
ICO: Initial Coin Offering

These days, there are so many ICOs that is getting harder and harder to tell what is a legit project and what is scam.
To give you an idea, there are 118 icos are active RIGHT NOW with more and more joining the playing field every month. It has proven that it is a great way to get funded fast, with almost no strings attached and government interference.
Some say that ICOS are the real first "killer app" of the ETH. In the sense that this is what will push it towards mainstream and one of the best uses of the tech. Who knows, maybe. It sure is used for that and launched a TON of nice projects.

But with so many "easy money" flowing into ICOs, it's natural that scammers will spruce like mushrooms after the rain. They want you to send your hard earned crypto to them on flimsy promises and a nice website and of course..THE PROMISE of future riches!
This is the point where you should read @wingz ' s post about ICO. One of the best reads on ICOs and one of the people that is always writing insightful articles.

As they say in crypto, everyone is entitled to AT LEAST a lambo, right?

It's a bull market...

Here's a few things you can look at to make sure you won't get scammed.

• Project

Don't be fooled by fancy words, try to see the project for what it really is. Do they offer a solution to something that is currently broken? If so, can they actually deliver?
It's easy to promise the moon and the sky, harder to make it happen though.

Another thing to do is to see if there are any competitor doing the same but..better.
Check the ANN on bitcointalk for every project you think of investing in BEFORE you send them any kind of funds.

---

• Team

Ideas are a dime a dozen.
Ideas are like assholes, everyone has one!!

You get the point, just because a project has a nice idea, a cool website and some fancy words on a paper(usually white) does not mean THAT much. You need to check out the team too.
Who are these people that want your money?
What have they done?
You want to start with a very skeptical mind and hope to be impressed. One big name can make or break not only the project but the CONFIDENCE in the project.
That's why we all like EOS -> Dan's name make all the difference. The man already launched a very cool project...or two :)
That's why Bats sold out in 2blocks.

Do some research and decide. Sometimes the team is young and maybe they have no big name support. That's not a reason to abandon an ICO but a reason to adjust your investment maybe.

---

• The actual ICO

The ICO itself usually comes with a lot of terms and promises. Some are better than others, some are worriesome, some are good omens. I am not sure exactly which is which but generally you want to team to be vested in the success of the project [ for example they won't ge their coins for 2 3 years or fi they leave]. You might also want for them to give MOST of the coins to investors [ 70-80% minimum ]. You might think that a capped number of coins is good...or, in the light of the new development, bad!
You might think that a hard cap is good for your investment..or maybe not.
It can be very personal on what you look for in a good ico. But whatever decision the team makes, I look for their rationale behind the choices and the valabilit of their arguments.

Fro example, I did not find BATS decision to push the cap from 18millions to 34millions for no really good reason beyond the fact that they can get the money. They were right, of course, but for me, as the smallest of fishes it just dilutes any investment i might have. Also, it shows non respect for the investors.
Which brings me to the final point.

---

• Get in touch with the team.

Join their Slack [ there is alwys a slack, that's the rule! no slack, no ico! :D ] and try to see what people are saying, what kid of questions they have and wht kind of answer the team gives.
One can tell A LOT from the team;s response to incessant stream of questions they get from people. |Some are trolls, some are serious and some are clueless but you need to answer to them all in my opinion IF you want their money.
There's no excuse to be smug and cagey regarding your own project when you think that if you were looking for investment in the tradition sense you would hve been interviewed merciless and by people who know their stuff.

Imho, all these are THE LEAST you could do. There;s so much more that CAN be done and the more you want to invest in ICOs the more you should research and ask questions and poke around. It's your money, don't treat ICOs like opportunities and hand them easily. THEY should treat your invetment with respect.

Good luck!