This year is looking to be even bigger for NFTs, with more mainstream adoption and a continued push by creators and collectors to explore the possibilities of this new asset class.
That said, the proliferation of NFTs has created opportunities for scammers to take advantage of unsuspecting individuals. NFTs have been getting a lot of attention lately, but unfortunately, not all of it is good. Because of the decentralised nature of the NFT world, many people have been left vulnerable to a number of scams. And in many cases, there’s been little anyone can do to counter them.
In such a case, you may need to take note of the following scams in order to avoid them at all costs.
1. Fake Mint Pages
With so many OpenSea pages popping up during highly anticipated NFT drops, it can be difficult to tell which is the legitimate collection. It can be even harder to tell if the collection isn’t verified. With collectors feeling the pressure of time and the fear of missing out (FOMO), they may not take the extra step of authenticating the source of the assets before minting the wrong NFT.
Some people are creating fake OpenSea pages and tricking people into minting NFTs from those pages. The people creating the fake pages get the money from the people who mint the NFTs, and those who mint the NFTs don’t get the ones they thought they were getting.
2. Fake Airdrops
Since NFTs are stored on the blockchain, your wallet address is public to everyone. This means that anyone can see your every move and interact with your account. For example, they can send you NFTs without asking, which is called an airdrop.
Scammers can use NFTs to try and get your personal information, so it’s best to be careful when interacting with any new NFTs. Make sure to verify the NFT’s origin before taking any action.
3. Impersonation
Impersonation is when someone pretends to be someone else in order to take advantage of them. This can be done in a number of ways, such as stealing their identity or pretending to be an authority figure.
A victim of the scam even spoke out about this recently:
“Someone created a fake Twitter account that impersonated me. This account had the same profile picture and bio as me and tweeted similar things. This account gathered 5,000 followers before I was made aware of it. The only difference between the fake account and my real one was that the fake one’s username had an extra “s” at the end. This shows how easily someone can create a fake account and fool others.
This account has added thousands of followers in order to look more legitimate, and it is possible that they have sent direct messages to potential victims. It is not clear how exactly this account was used, but it was likely created for malicious purposes.”
4. Fake Links
OpenSea is an online marketplace that allows users to buy, sell, and trade digital assets. Scammers will send fake offers to people’s email addresses, asking them to click on a “view” button. These links often lead to a fake page that asks for your wallet and seed phrase. Once a scammer has your information, they can transfer all of your assets to another wallet and sell them. There is no way to stop them once they have your information.
Some people will try to sell NFTs for very low prices in order to get rid of them quickly. This can be especially tempting for buyers who are Suspicious of the seller’s motives. If the community is aware of this activity, they may be able to stop it from happening.
Conclusion
Overall, it is important to be aware of the potential scams that can target users of NFTs. Understanding how these scams work and taking steps to protect yourself can help keep your NFTs safe. Remember to always be vigilant when dealing with online transactions; if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
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