A member of the Proof Collective has been scammed and lost 29 extremely valuable Ethereum-based Moonbirds NFT. Based on a tweet by Cirrus on Wednesday morning, the NFTs were stolen after the victim opened a malicious link shared by a scammer. The loss is estimated at around $1.5 million based on the market price of the NFTs.
Cirrus further added that it is disheartening to see things like these and should serve as a warning to never click on links and to bookmark NFT owners’ preferred marketplaces and trading sites.
According to Dollar, a Twitter figure and NFT holder, the alleged perpetrator has already been half-doxed by crypto exchange, and that Proof Collective and its members are actively working on a full report to the FBI.
A further user, Just1n.eth, stated that when attempting to negotiate a purchase, a dealer insisted on completing the transaction through an unsavory “peer 2 peer” platform. Sulphaxyz on the other hand-verified that it had happened to him as well, and named the con artist as the same person.
Rise in Malicious websites targetting NFT owners
At the time of writing this article, It’s uncertain how many victims the offender has tricked in total. However, it’s a stark reminder that even the most experienced NFT investors must be cautious of scammers. The recent crypto frauds serve as a stark reminder to NFT owners to be cautious when interacting with third-party platforms and to double-check everything given by others, even if they appear to be reliable.
Malwarebytes, a cybersecurity firm, issued a report earlier this month that found a rise in malicious websites as scammers try to cash in on the NFT trend. Scammers’ most common tactic, according to the business, is to offer fake websites as trustworthy platforms.
Cryptopolitan earlier last month covered how Malicious actors have been exploiting QR codes to perpetrate NFT scams. According to Spent, a pseudonymous crypto enthusiast and Discord security expert scams have been on the rise.
Spent took to Twitter to describe the scam’s mechanics, explaining that malicious actors contact victims under the pretense of offering non-fungible tokens advancement jobs, or partnership chances. When people express interest, they are instructed to use Wick, a Discord verification bot, to verify their identity.
