Source: NurPhoto / Getty
Count us in the group of people who still have no idea how NFTs work, but this latest cyber heist involving the latest blockchain craze is eye-opening.
Spotted on The Verge, a thief stole NFTs worth millions of dollars by using the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) official Instagram account to share a phishing link that lifted tokens out of users’ crypto wallets. Bored Ape Yacht Club confirmed the intrusion via Twitter, writing in a tweet Monday morning (Apr.25), “There is no mint going on today. It looks like BAYC Instagram was hacked. Do not mint anything, click links, or link your wallet to anything.”
In response to BAYC’s tweet, a user who goes by the handle @jatuur shared a photo of what the link looked like and it does look very official. Based on more responses, Bored Ape Yacht Club’s warning tweet came too late because many people are claiming to have lost tokens. A screenshot shared by another Twitter user showed an OpenSea account taking well over a dozen NFTs from Bored Ape, Mutant Ape, and Bored Ape Kennel Club projects users who clicked the link and connected their wallets. Each of the NFTs is worth six figures based on their most recent sale price.
Per The Verge:
The lowest priced Ape, #7203, last sold four months ago for 47.9 ETH — equivalent to $138,000 at current exchange price. Ape #6778 was last sold for 88.88 ETH ($256,200), while Ape #6178 sold for 90 ETH or $259,400. And Bored Ape #6623 was the most valuable of all, sold three months ago for 123 ETH ($354,500) — meaning that collectively the total value of the four stolen Apes is just over $1 million.
The hacker’s OpenSea account was banned, OpenSea head of communications Allie Mack confirmed to The Verge. The hacker’s wallet can still be viewed on other platforms and had 134 NFTs, four of them from Bored Ape Yacht Club.
This latest scam questions the security of crypto wallets because NFTs are stored on smartphone wallets rather than more secure options. So beware and keep an eye on your crypto wallets because your tokens are not safe.
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Photo: NurPhoto / Getty
