Scammers Spotted Promoting Fake Olympics Cryptocurrency With AI Generated Imagery
27 June 2024 at 14:40
Β Olympics Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) Fraud
Researchers from Trend Micro uncovered a recent scheme that claimed to offer an official "Olympics Games Token" for sale. The Olympic Games Token ICO website, theolympictoken[.]com, was registered on March 30, 2024, and its website went live a day later.Β The website also links to a legitimate Olympics 2024 logo and a countdown to the event, making it seem like a legitimate project. [caption id="attachment_79264" align="alignnone" width="395"]![Olympics Games Token ICO](../themes/icons/grey.gif)
Use of AI-Generated Images Olympics in ICO Scams
[caption id="attachment_79257" align="alignnone" width="1263"]![Olympics Crypto ICO](../themes/icons/grey.gif)
![Olympics ICO AI Scam](../themes/icons/grey.gif)
Spotting Fake ICO Campaigns
ICOs have gained significant attention as cryptocurrency continues to be adopted in various industries. While most new tokens lack utility and are simply memecoins, it does not always mean they are scams. Investors should be vigilant and look out for potential scams and rug-pulls. A legitimate ICO should have a proper website and social media presence, a transparent team, an active community, a comprehensive whitepaper, legitimacy of claims, token distribution, smart contract audit, and liquidity management. The researchers have shared the following guidelines to help identify such scams:- Proper website and social media presence: The researchers stated that scam sites are often poorly designed or lack active presence on social media.
- Transparent team: Cross-check the identities and credentials of the teams behind the offering. Anonymity is a red flag.
- Active community: Genuine projects have engaged followers on platforms like Discord, Twitter or Telegram, which suggests genuine interest and support.
- Comprehensive whitepaper: A whitepaper that outlines the project's goals, utility, and technical aspects, which demonstrates a thorough understanding of the project's concept and planning.
- Legitimacy of claims: ClaimsΒ backed by verifiable evidence, such as partnerships, use cases, and endorsements.
- Token distribution: Avoid projects with highly concentrated token ownership which might increase the chances of exit scams.
- Smart contract audit: Audit by reputable third-parties, which identify vulnerabilities.
- Liquidity management: Liquidity is locked to prevent premature withdrawals and is decentralized among the community, which secures investors' funds.