I wasn't sure if cross-posts are allowed, but I wanted to get the word out about the 4New ICO. My original post is hereTL;DR: I believe that it would be extremely unwise to invest any money in the 4New ICO. This conclusion is based on my review of publicly-available information, as well as brief exchanges I had with members of the team via Telegram and LinkedIn, and brief telephone calls with the accountant and auditor named in the whitepaper,The Longer Story:While looking at airdrops last week, I noticed that a particularly generous airdrop--4New, which was offering about $28 for completing all tasks. Without thinking much about it, I completed about half the tasks, including making positive posts/comments on its Reddit and Telegram groups. As I thought more about 4New's idea (using waste to generate electricity for crypto mining in the UK), I became excited about the possibilities represented by 4New, and wanted to learn more. However, when I started looking at the Reddit and Telegram groups in more detail, I realized that, as a result of the airdrop requirements, nearly all of the posts were variations on "great project," with very little substantive discussion. This didn't sit well, so I decided to dig a little deeper.Reading 4New's whitepaper, I realized that I had no idea how to check out if most of what it was claiming. What I could check, however, were the auditor and accountant, named on page 26 of its whitepaper. Here's an archived version. Although no contact info for was provided in the whitepaper, it was easily googleable. So, Friday morning, I called both offices. The accounting firm said that they were "familiar with" the ICO company, but that the company was not a current client. The auditor checked, and called me back to say that the ICO company wasn't a client, but made no further comments. Keep in mind that 4New's website claims to have raised over $40m.Later on Friday, I asked about this on the Telegram group. I was informed by an admin that 4New's president was the actual client of both the accountant and auditor, not 4New itself. The admin also indicated that these firms were Florida-based because 4New intended to expand into the U.S. I wish I could post a record of these conversations, but I can no longer access 4New's Telegram group.As I mentioned above, I noticed that both the accountant and auditor were based in Florida, even though the project is based in London. So, next I checked the business address, which I got from ICO website terms and conditions. It references a road in London that doesn't appear to exist--probably due to a typo (Delayer vs. Delaymeyer). The business center in the address does exist, but according to the Evening Standard the last business located there was a bulk cellphone repair company. Here's google street view for the block, which appears to be a light industrial park (there's a window supplier, a construction company, etc.).Next, I decided to check out the LinkedIn profiles of the team, as linked on the ICO's website. This has changed since Friday, so here's the archived version. Of the top six people, I noticed five anomalies:The founder of this London-based company also has another job he's currently working at in Florida.The president was also Florida-based.The COO's profile listed the company as being located in York, UK, instead of London.The CMO (is that Chief Management Officer?) entry linked to the LinkedIn profile of a completely different person (different name; different race, etc.)The Technical Lead is based in NYC and didn't list the ICO on his resume.At this point, I contacted the president and the founder via LinkedIn with a list of fairly non-confrontational questions based on the above. The president responded almost immediately, and asked to set up a call. I declined. The president has since disappeared from 4New's team list. As far as I can tell, there hasn't been any announcement of the change. Keep in mind that this was the individual who, according to 4New's Telegram admin, had engaged the auditor and the accountant.Next, I watched 4New's YouTube video about its waste energy plant. The video starts with the 4New logo and a woman introducing the tour. However, the video then cuts to a man who identifies the plant as "BioConstruct Imperial Park," (at the 20sec mark). Neither the woman, nor 4New's logo appear again until the end of the tour. Bioconstruct's website states that the Imperial Park plant was built for AVG Imperial, and doesn't mention 4New anywhere in the description. I asked about this discrepancy on 4New's Telegram, and an admin told me that 4New was still in the process of purchasing the plant from BioConstruct. Again, I can't link a screenshot of this exchange because I can no longer access 4New's Telegram group.So, in summary, 4New...Doesn't appear to actually own the waste-to-energy plant pictured on its website and featured on its Youtube page;Hasn't hired the accountant and auditor listed in the whitepaper (as of last Friday);Removed its president from its website, apparently without announcing it;Has a London address that appears dubious, and key personnel who mostly appear to be located outside London; andIs giving airdrops to people who post positive comments on its Reddit and Telegram groups.Is this something that you would invest money in?Please don't just take my word for it, though--do your own research. Also, if you discover that I've missed anything, or gotten anything wrong, please let me know, and I'll edit this post accordingly. Thanks! via /r/icocrypto https://ift.tt/2r9YwYm
