Over $100 million worth of NFTs were stolen in one year

NFT Sales (Fungible Token), these digital certificates recorded on the blockchain, a technology that guarantees the security of transactions, With the support of a photo, text or video, it may have fallen by 75% in the first quarter of 2022, but the appetite of thieves has not diminished. According to a report published by research firm Elliptic on August 24 block chains, 100 million dollars (100.3 million euros) of NFT were stolen in one year. In July alone, no fewer than 4,600 NFTs disappeared. A number may be underestimated because very minor thefts are rarely made public.

According to Elliptic, OpenSea Marketplace advised its community to disable Discord direct messaging. “Exaggeration of Crooks”. Digital pirates mainly target the more popular NFTs. “Board Apes Yacht Club” planes, these images of jaded primates are randomly generated by an algorithm so that each has a slight uniqueness, its variant “mutant apes”, but the series “Azuki”, manga-style avatars, a variant of the same line called “Clone X”, plots in the Otherside metaverse, Two-thirds of crimes.

In December 2021, New York art dealer Todd Kramer claimed on Twitter that fifteen “board apes” had been removed. Four months later, it was Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jay Chou’s turn to steal one of these precious tokens. But isn’t blockchain supposed to be inviolable and indestructible? ” The problem is not blockchain technology, but poor cybersecurity habits”Before detailing rookie mistakes, collector Brian Pecafico explains: “Using the same password for different sites, connecting to insecure networks, keeping a virtual copy of your wallet’s security key on your computer when you need to keep it offline…”

Investor fraud

One of the most common methods of phishing is imitating the domain name and image of a well-known NFT platform, which can easily lead to confusion. A few minutes of distraction, more haste, and you’re done. Other hacks are more subtle. “Hackers gain users’ trust by posing as a support agent to resolve a technical issue or by hacking into a community’s Discord messaging or Instagram account”Adds Gaspard Proust, project manager at Ledger.

According to Elliptic, security breaches via social networks are on the rise, accounting for 23% of NFT thefts. There is also one last fraudulent practice mentioned in this study: investor fraud. Cybercriminals launch NFT schemes that look like potential investments, collect money from gullible users, and then disappear overnight with the funds raised. Goodbye calves, cows and cryptocurrencies…