At a time when the NFT market is dead, a user lost 6 Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), 40 Beanz, and 3 Elementals worth $240,000 in NFTs in a phishing scam. This scheme was executed by an unidentified party who manipulated Blur marketplace’s listing system to conduct unauthorized private sales.
A Solidity developer and auditor, known as Quit, disclosed the details of this phishing incident over X (formerly Twitter).
Quit explained that the victim inadvertently set the sale price of their entire NFT collection, which included 6 BAYC, 40 Beanz, and 3 Elementals, at the nominal amount of 1 Wei (the smallest unit of Ethereum) to a fraudulent buyer on the Blur marketplace.
Source: X
At press time, Ethereum's value stood at $3,300.68, having experienced a 4.25% decrease within a day. Ethereum's market capitalization was reported at $396,536,839,977 with a 24-hour trading volume of $12,561,336,636.
The fraudster's strategy involved circumventing Blur Marketplace's policy against private listings by deceiving users into listing their NFTs at inflated prices. The scammer exploited a vulnerability in the platform's system, allowing for private transactions and altering the royalty configurations of the NFTs.
Regrettably, an NFT owner fell victim to this scam, resulting in the transfer of their assets to the scammer's address. The scammer's method included a set of conditions that nullified any payment, effectively rendering the sales private.
Additionally, the scam entailed luring the victim to a counterfeit website, often through a fake Twitter account promoting a non-existent mint or airdrop verification service.
BAYC is one of the oldest members of the NFT community, created in April 2021. The project runs over the ETH blockchain and currently deals at the floor price of 10.48 ETH. It has a total volume of 1,554,494 ETH and 5,395 holders.
Introduced in March 2022, Beanz are a small species that sprouts from the dirt in the garden. The NFT projects have a total volume of 180,119 ETH and are trading at the floor price of 0.2169 ETH, According to the OpenSea market.
Azuki Elementals, an NFT project based on the Anime theme also seeks attention due to the scam. The NFT project currently holds a floor price of 0.39 ETH and 41,811 ETH in total volume.
The recent Blur marketplace scam is a stark reminder for the NFT community to stay alert. A user lost valuable NFTs to a phishing attack, highlighting the need for secure trading practices. Despite the setback, the NFTs involved, like BAYC and Beanz, remain popular and active on the blockchain. This incident serves as a cautionary note for all in the digital asset space.
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