Scammers have quickly seized the opportunities to take advantage of many new NFT drops. Recent data shows that scammers have passed off bogus Yuga Labs’ Otherside NFT and stolen about $3.7 million worth of NFTs.
Bored Ape Yacht started off this year on the right foot with outstanding moves towards NFT and Metaverse.
The Otherside’s NFT drop on Sunday marked a record-breaking sale of $500 million, with 55,000 Otherdeeds (land plot in Otherside) sold out in just a few hours.
Yuga Labs and Others Get Hit
Yuga Labs’ NFT project is not the only one to shake up the market.
Previously, Moonbirds, a freshly launched NFT collection, wrote its own stories when the release went wildly successful – its total trade volume hit 100,000 ETH, outperforming other collections for a specific 24-hour period after the launch.
Where there are hypes, there are scams. Scammers won’t miss any chance to display tricks in the crypto industry, especially amid the hype around these NFT collections.
Despite widespread warnings, many NFT holders have still fallen prey to the high-tech scams. According to blockchain security company Peckshield, since the drop of BAYC’s Metaverse, some Twitter accounts posted phishing websites that appeared as legitimate Otherside’s.
The scammers tricked users into connecting their digital wallets to register for a fictitious NFT drop, APE token airdrop, or to receive gas refund, then misled them into signing a transaction that granted the hackers access to drain the victim’s wallet.
Phishers have targeted the vulnerability of holders, specifically the excessive gas fees which came out as a big issue of the NFT launch.
Despite the fact that Otherdeeds were quickly sold out, the increased demand and poorly-written smart contract led to massive gas war. Successful minters had to spend around $7,000 to have their transactions gone through.
That said, gas refund was the ace of the phishing attack. One fraudulent website told victims:
“Wallets that were KYCed but failed to mint will get full gas refund. Registering for a refund will also automatically add you to Wave 2 Otherside Lands Raffle List.”
Be Careful Out There!
Other sites simply got people to register for a fake Otherside lands raffle list by connecting their wallet, or drew people for a limited-time offering, targeting people’s fear of missing out.
The latest NFT phenomenon Moonbirds was also under cyber attacks following its successful release.
As reported by Fortune, hackers took over many Twitter accounts, including some accounts with a blue check mark. They then replaced their avatar with an image of the NFT Moonbirds, posting an invitation to participate in the NFT through lottery.
The hackers also tagged a list of people in the friend list to make the scame look swimmingly and increase the probability of success.
In the posts, hackers include links to fake websites or malware browser extensions. Once a victim clicked on a link or connects a digital wallet to that website, they lost all of their cryptocurrency, or have ransomware installed on their device.
Proof Collective, the team behind Moonbirds, quickly detected the issue and sent a warning to users.
Justin Mezzell, co-founder and Product Manager of Proof Collective stated that scammers are trying to take over or acquire Twitter accounts with a lot of followers or verified, then lure players into connecting crypto wallets and taking money.
He suggested users to block or report these accounts if they caught their attention.
The Moonbirds Twitter account also warns about scams, noting that the project does not have an Instagram channel, Discord. Phishing attacks target big NFTs by convincing consumers to do something in their best interests.
The more popular the collection is, the more likely it is that it will become a big target. Phishers or scammers were also well-prepared, given the fact that lots of people fell victim for this “old but gold” scamming stype.
Users should be aware of any suspicious links or accounts on social media to protect themselves from losing assets.
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