The unfortunate fact, that the

ICO

market is dying. According to the

Satis Group

data, more than 81% of the market is a dead projects. The ingenuity of crypto fraudsters was the cause of investors lack of confidence.

It is worth talking about the most prominent

scams

, that might have destroyed ICO in 2018 as a transparent manner of investment.

Ifan and PinCoin - $660 million

This two crypto startups took the first place, just because they are running money scams of Vietnam Modern Tech company.

The founders promised 570% annual investment. Which sounded well for investors. Because everybody want a high income.

It was impossible to resist from Modern Tech offers, because the marketing was brilliant. The project gave a bonus per each engaged investor.

Now we can tell that initially it was an obvious scam. But no, the crypto fraudsters planned everything to a small detail. But in the end, word always gets out. The mass action in front of the Modern Tech office was triggered by the fact that cryptocurrency media began to publish information about the dark deeds of the company. During the mass action, investors demanded a refund.

In the end, 32 thousand of investors were cheated and the founders escaped with $660 million. Ironically, Ifan and PinCoin were guilty, but have not been punished for the crime.

PlexCoin - $15 million

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) undertook the scam situation. That’s why it deserves attention.

Scam projects on the ICO market is like an infection which should be treated at the beginning. The PlexCoin was cured before it caused a significant damage.

The creators of PlexCoin promised a great profit for the investors. This project promised 1300% profit per month. “PlexCoin will be the first cryptocurrency by capitalization, which will eliminate Bitcoin”, said creators. This assumption was a trigger for the SEC.

Dominic Lacroix, the creator of this scam, was charged and entailed to legal responsibility with “willful distortion provided to investors” by French Financial Markets Regulator (AMF). Following the example set by AMF, the SEC filed a complaint and demanded to suspend the ICO.

During the investigation of the project it was suspended by a lawsuit. Without accepting the restrictions and continuing the sale of fake project tokens, Lacroix was fined $10 000 and deprived of his liberty for a two months.

PlexCoin has earned about $15 million. Ironically, the fraudsters were fined $100 thousand.

BitConnect - presumably, several millions

This is a fine example of fraud field. For two years, it was pulling out the money from gullible investors. BitConnect was launched in 2016 at the peak of hype.

The point of deception was simple: “Invest more - gain even more”. They promised that if they don’t withdraw the funds for 120 days then the profit will be 365%.

Due to the fact that in December 2017 the cost of the BitConnect

token was $463, the states of Texas and North Carolina have turned their attention to it. They made the accusation due to unregistered distribution of securities. This reduced the price of the token by 90% and became $ 5.92 per coin.

But, after 2 years of existence, in January, the project disappeared from all the exchanges, and investors were left with nothing,according to the preliminary estimates, they have lost several million dollars. And of course they filed a class action amounting to $700 thousand.

Divyesh Darji managed project from Surat, India and was arrested in the summer of 2018 during the investigation.

Benebit - from about $3 to $4 million

The criminal schemes of Benebit for the ICO market were just perfect, unlike the projects presented above. Everything was at a high level, the project held top places in ratings, there was high activity in social networks, the PR manager did a titanic job. The Benebit activity was brilliant.

But they were revealed by smallest detail. It was because of photos which they took from the school site, which were noticed by an unknown person. After this all got out, the creators turned off the site, accounts and went into hiding.

During the investigation nobody would think about verification of the authenticity of documents. It turned out that the passport data used by the promoters for work was fake. Another outstanding problem is the rating: how did he get such high marks and who did let that happen?

Conclusion

This is TOP scam projects which should become a lesson to investors. They made a list of “finest scam of 2018” by

, only for the uniqueness of fraud methods.

For example, in ICO Ifan, PinCoin and PlexCoin the investors were attracted with high profit. They were so blind that they did not notice the warnings of the experts.

PlexCoin was the first scam, in which the SEC interfered. As for PinCoin and Ifan they are extraordinary. Since the creators have been found, but not punished.

Benebit startup was unique by the fact that $500 thousand were invested in it under the guise of professional marketing. On the example of this project, we can see the gaps in the system of regulation of IСO.

BitConnect surprised us by the fact, that its financial pyramid was so obvious that it allowed to hide in plain sight. This is a good example of aggressive marketing and the greed of investors in getting money.

In fact, man's recklessness is the root of the absence of confidence problem to ICO and not such projects. Everyone thinks that this will not happen to himself. But it will, if you are not reasonable and do not check the information about the project in which you intend to invest.