Jan 2018 - Prodeum Initial Coin Offering Exit - $3k (Global)
"The Ethereum based ICO had all the makings of a successful project on paper such as a full white paper, alleged Twitter following, team members with Linkedin profiles, and a roadmap." "Prodeum's 12-page white paper outlined plans to build a database of fruits and vegetables on the Ethereum blockchain. That idea might sound strange, but it’s not the first of its kind. Prodeum asked investors to help raise as much as 5,400 ether—roughly $6.5 million—in an ICO." "According to the white paper, Prodeum was founded by four individuals going by the names of Petar Jandric, Darius Rugevicius, Vytaustas Kaseta, and Rokas Vedluga." "Prodeum had [also] been paying members of freelancer website Fiverr to promote the ICO by writing its name on their bodies."
"The Prodeum website, for what it’s worth, is flashy and overall very well done. To throw off the suspicious, if you click a photo of any of Prodeum’s staff, you’re taken to that person’s associated LinkedIn profile. It also appears, as Buzzfeed journalist Ryan Mac noted on Twitter, that the startup was paying people on Fiverr to promote the ICO by writing “Prodeum” on their bodies. Still, it doesn’t seem like all the promotion was enough to make Prodeum’s crowdsale profitable."
"Multiple media reports claim that the Lithuanian based project architects made off with $11 from the crowdfunding. However adding up the Etherscan transactions for the Prodeum address puts the figure closer to 3 ETH. This tallies with a forum user claiming to be behind the scam stating it only made $3,000."
"But after collecting what looks like less than the price of two Chipotle burritos, Prodeum disappeared. The company’s sparkly, professional-looking website was replaced with a single, trolling word."
"A press release on both an NBC affiliate and a New Jersey local news site vanished, along with Prodeum’s website, Twitter account, and Telegram channel. Emails to the startup’s customer support address bounce back. It seems like Prodeum—which sounds suspiciously like the urinary-tract infection medication Prodium—was yet another cryptocurrency scam."
"Nobody bothered to check that not even 5 ETH were sent to this address? Millions of dollars where?"
Further Analysis
Prodeum, an Ethereum-based ICO project, claimed to offer a blockchain-based database for fruits and vegetables. The project presented a full white paper, a Twitter following, team members with LinkedIn profiles, and a roadmap, all seemingly indicating a legitimate endeavor. The project aimed to raise around $6.5 million in an ICO. However, it was later revealed that Prodeum's founders, using pseudonyms, only managed to collect a small amount of Ethereum, approximately 3 ETH, before disappearing. Despite creating a well-designed website, paying freelancers to promote the ICO, and featuring profiles linked to LinkedIn, the project turned out to be a scam. The project's website was replaced with a single word after its disappearance, raising concerns about the unchecked enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency market.
How Could This Have Been Prevented?
More Cryptocurrency Exchange Hacks/Scams/Frauds
BitGrail NANO Hack > > < < Experty ICO Leak and Phishing Attack
Sources/Further Reading
Prodeum ICO exitscams with millions of dollars, and now their website just has one word: "penis" : CryptoCurrency (Dec 31)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180525160052/http://www.nbc29.com/story/37346709/prodeum-brings-the-blockchain-to-fruits-vegetables (Dec 31)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180129162150/https://www.tokendesk.io/ico/prodeum/ (Dec 31)
https://i.imgur.com/MJHg5AG.png (Dec 31)
Reddit - Dive into anything (Dec 31)
bdd4 comments on Prodeum ICO exitscams with millions of dollars, and now their website just has one word: "penis" (Dec 31)
Ethereum Transactions Information | Etherscan
(Dec 31)
Prodeum ICO (Dec 31)
Wayback Machine (Dec 31)
Prodeum ICO - Is Live Now (18%) | ICO Watch List (Dec 31)
Cryptocurrency Scams Like Prodeum Are Just Straight-Up Trolling at This Point | WIRED (Dec 31)
Prodeum Scam: Cryptocurrency for Produce Disappears (Dec 31)
Prodeum ICO Scammers Leave Penis in Their Wake (Dec 31)
Ethereum Startup Vanishes After Seemingly Making $11, Leaves Message: ‘Penis’ (Dec 31)
@RMac18 Twitter (Dec 31)
Cryptocurrency Company vanishes with millions, leaving just one word on their Website | BellaNaija (Dec 31)
Founders of the Fresh Vegetable Delivery ICO Left ‘Penis’ to Investors (Dec 31)
https://medium.com/@dmitryoganesov/crypto-coin-company-disappears-with-millions-leaving-one-word-message-penis-4b95792dc4c9 (Dec 31)
Cryptocurrency startup Prodeum pulls exit scam, leaves a penis behind (Dec 31)
Worldwide crypto & NFT rug pulls and scams tracker - Comparitech (Dec 31)
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