In a world of crypto longevity, is it still worth asking how safe our transactions really are?
We are seeing progress in both directions—people are better protecting their crypto, yet scammers find more clever ways to bypass our security. In the most recent of unexpected events, roughly $177,000 was stolen as an NFT transaction went sour.
People were “phishing” on the web, and someone got caught.
The good news is that most of the stolen goods were found in an interesting turn of events. Both an investigator and a bit of common sense combined to uncover the tracks. Here’s a look into the risks of ownership in crypto to be aware of.
What Started As a $177,000 Fund
The story begins with the DeGods-NFT collection, being a hefty collection of 10,000 unique works of “godly” art. It started back in October of 2021 and is curated by portrait-art automation, using superhero attributes that combine and mix. The attributes eventually produced various takes of the titans wearing superhero attire like helmets and capes.
The project was birthed on the Solana blockchain, and just years later, the most expensive piece it brought to the market sold for $220,000 USD, being NFT #270. The average price of a DeGods NFT, today in 2024, rests just under $10,000.
A famous piece in the collection is #3251, which is the male medusa stolen after being bought for around $177,000 USD.
A Special Detective Gets Involved …
The news about NFT #3251 broke out through a special detective of sorts. On “Twitter,” we are told that the NFT’s original owner recovered much of his stolen funds in the end. The detective, being ZachXBT of X, has a record of “lending free services in a fight against crypto crimes.”
The ZachXBT account hosts over 500,000 followers, and its owner claims to have started an investigation into NFT #3251 soon after it was stolen. That was in May of 2023. During his investigations, ZachXBT proposed a trail of data conveying the scam in flowcharts.
The social media account then claimed to have traced the wallets involved with the theft.
A Lesson Learned In Crypto
Let’s be reminded of the scams in which many do fall prey. They are called phishing tactics. What happened to NFT #3251 might have been avoided with just a bit more caution.
This is also why dealing with a reputable platform is so important.
The methods used today are more decisive, so the information you share has to be guarded. Phishing scams are those that use fake ads to extract information from you. If the information you give these fake sites deals with crypto, any wallets you own could get compromised.
