The proprietors of Bored Ape have not had a better year than this one, and the current BAYC fraud is another another setback for the business. A “gasless transaction” scam has defrauded 14 ape NFTs, one of which has already been shut down. The NFTs are worth up to $1 million in total. Continue reading to find out more about this kind of scam and how to avoid it.
a couple of the bored ape NFTs that were tricked by @ sevenseason_ on Twitter
What’s the Deal With The Most Recent Bored Ape Scam?
Industry developer @CirrusNFT revealed an over 1200 ETH scam on Twitter on December 17. All 14 of NFT collector @ sevenseasontreasured ‘s Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs were quickly taken. This Bored Ape fraud has a total worth of more than $1 million. The NFT trader believed they were entering into a gas-free transaction when they agreed to a licensing agreement with web3 social IP platform The Unemployed. “Jason Brubeck,” an unidentified person, approached @ sevenseason_ and requested that he accept the license agreement. This con came about as a result of two different factors. First, a couple OpenSea contract weaknesses as well as a clever social engineering ruse. Let’s find out more about the OpenSea “gasless transaction” hoax.
The first instance of this scam’s occurrence was in February 2022, when numerous well-known targets and assets were claimed. It all begins with a phishing link that convinces users to link their wallets to a “reliable” website. The trickiest element of the hoax is at this point, where extensive use of social engineering creates the appearance of confidence. The user is persuaded to sign a gasless transaction on their wallets as part of the second fraud step. Most people make the error of assuming that a lack of gas equates to a lack of transfers, but that is incorrect.
Chimpers dev @cap10bad.ETH explains that this step really enables consumers to send NFTs to the scammers’ wallets for 0 ETH in a Twitter thread outlining gasless scams. He further asserts in the thread that despite Metamask’s improvements to contract readability, it still falls short. To avoid this fraud, he continues, “if the communication comes from Seaport and includes the phrase “OFFER: YOUR WALLET,” this indicates that you are making a listing (of your NFT). To learn more about this kind of scam, you may read the entire discussion here.
Furthermore, OpenSea has not taken any action to bridge this gap. especially since con artists and thieves never stop coming up with new ways to take advantage of people. The Blur marketplace, on the other hand, provides insurance by imposing restrictions on how rapidly recently transferred items can receive offers. Additionally, the wallet page where the NFTs “0x9335dA37d37BC5D46850EaEe48F8B9CCbE94D9a2” were stolen is no longer accessible.
As things stand, NFT Twitter is offering @ sevenseasons_ its love and support. Users are also looking for solutions to get their lost BAYC digital collectibles back.