How to Identify a Cloud Mining Scam?

Any new industry is full of scams and the Bitcoin and Crypto industry is no exception. From scam coins to mining rigs and contracts there are a multitude of methods to steal your hard earned cash and pull the wool over your eyes.
So how do we identify a Bitcoin scam. Well it's really difficult for anyone to know and the scam artists are becoming more clever. Here are some of the tricks they use:

 The domain name is never registered to a real user but is instead hidden.

 They register a Company - a number have done so in London to give the illusion of prestige - but the Directors are often registered as foreign residents where identity requirements are easily faked.

 They are evasive when asked to show proof of their equipment.

 They set aside funds and use initial funds from clients to make payouts to again give an illusion of respectability and honesty that then will generate more clients. They show a Bitcoin address that they make payouts from that is verifiable. One day the address stops paying.

 They use promotion over substance with, for example, videos using fake representatives and offices -again with no proof of equipment.

 They advertise with comparison sites who don't fully check out the Company's credentials as they are given a share of the profits from the scam . The Comparison sites say the site can be verified as it is making payouts from a particular Bitcoin address. See point 4.

So don't rush to join in to just any mining provider – check their company information, read some review about the company .