Before you go any further, if you haven’t read this comprehensive intro on how not to be scammed in NFTs, you should now! It was written by our CEO, Mai Akiyoshi, and makes a great primer for all of the supplemental information which follows.
Scams are an unfortunate reality in the crypto/NFT world. As a developing technology, a lack of regulation coupled with a poor understanding by the general public makes crypto and NFTs the perfect breeding ground for those looking to exploit others.
We have listed a great deal of scams below as a snapshot of tricks scammers employ; for every case you see listed below, assume there are hundreds or thousands of , but be aware that the sheer multitude of scams—as well as the ever-changing deceitful tactics they employ— make it impossible to list everything. While this document is a living document and frequently updated, it is by no means exhaustive.
The possibility of MetaMask funds being stolen in the event of your iCloud backup for app data being compromised. A response to this thread.
Occurred within the CATC Discord, wherein a scammer impersonated Ben, before sending messages to several of the mods and active members in an attempt to fleece them for ETH.
A phishing site used a fake MetaMask popup tab instead of the normal website overlay to steal crypto.
An elaborate scam which made it look like influencers were buying into the same scam PFP project by disguising fake airdrops to appear to as mints, leading to traders buying into projects they wouldn't have otherwise.
Someone on Twitter impersonated notable NFT personality 2476 (Artchick) and sought direct messages from users.
A recent trend of exploited bots on Discord servers have been used to make false announcements about stealth drops (i.e., a sudden minting releases).