How Many Ways Can a Scammer Scam in Telegram During ICO?
Telegram is an imperfect platform for ICOs. Anyone who has been involved in an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) or TGE (Token Generation Event) in recent times will tell you this. But for the moment it’s all we’ve got.
I have listed below just a few of the many ways in which scammers will try to use the imperfections in Telegram to take advantage of unseasoned contributors, leading up to, during, and after an ICO or TGE.
- The Helpful Scammer — these are scammers that pretend to be a helpful team member offering the community discounts on tokens if they get in early. They will imitate core ICO team members and Telegram admin — they copy avatars, use names that are so similar they’re difficult to differentiate without comparing side-by-side.
- Team Support Scammer — these scammers will use the Project logo and create Telegram accounts labelled “Support” or “Official Group” to facilitate making contact with their targets. These scammers often appear during token sale phase, offering community members “help” to purchase tokens.
- The Undercover Scammer — these scammers come in a variety of forms. There are those that ask innocent questions that require Admin to reply with only a simple “yes” or “no”. Due to the nature of Telegram, these people can then backtrack and alter their questions so that they are asking something leading, such as “is this the correct link to buy tokens?” False links are then added, and community members reading back over the conversation see an Admin endorsing a link, so they click on it.
- The Project Fan Scammer — These “fans” repeatedly post what appear to be helpful information in the Telegram room — such as articles about the ICO/blockchain project, perhaps links to the official news channel. However the links are modified to look genuine but lead to fake websites, false news rooms etc.
- The Official Announcements Scammer — During the frantic token sale phase, scammers will continually spam a room. These posts appear to be official announcements with the project logo or images of well known team members. They contain links to purchase tokens alongside other relevant information, to help them appear legitimate. Of course, the links lead to false sites that look identical to the true website.
- The Opportunistic Scammer — A beginner in the world of crypto enters a Telegram room and naively announces that they are “new to this”. Within seconds they’re receiving direct messages from scammers pretending to be team members, giving them advice and “helping” them purchase tokens.
ICO’s and TGE’s should keep in mind that for every scammer successfully taking eth from a potential contributor, means less raised to fund the project. Scamming is a lucrative trade, with some groups or individuals making more than an ICO can hope to raise. Many of the eth addresses that scammers have provided to their targets have had literally hundreds of thousands USD. One that I looked in just last week had over 50 million USD in it.
Additionally these 6 style of scam I have listed are only a few of the many. I can literally think of another dozen forms of attack off the top of my head.
Admin and ICO staff members will spend many hours deleting false accounts and countering attacks on Telegram to protect their community and project. This is inevitable, and the scammers are relentless in a way that can not be adequately described. An experienced Telegram Community Manager and team can successfully navigate the overwhelming barrage of deception over this period, educating those in the rooms, and massively reducing the impact of fraud.
And until either Telegram improves it’s security issues or another superior platform becomes available, an experienced team is the best option for any blockchain ICO project.
About me:
I am a social media and community engagement professional, accomplished at growing active online communities, with over 20 years experience, and have worked on a number of ICOs through their various stages.
Visit my LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karielise
