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NFT Hackers has once again used a fake Goblintown NFT page to extract user information, and it is not the first time.
In another expected news, one more brand has been hit by NFT hacks and has most likely drained the wallets of its followers.
This time, it is a Venezuelan newspaper company, and the NFT that got them to this point is Goblin Towns.
NFT Hackers phish Reader’s info of El Universal
Social engineering is a phrase and technique that has gotten all too common when it comes to NFT hacks. People are always looking for NFT projects to support, and when someone parades around as part of the hottest NFT to date, not many can resist.
To make matters worse, when hackers get into the Twitter handle of a popular brand to lure users into connecting their wallets, there are no prisoners taken, and everyone suffers.
That’s exactly what happened in the case of El Universal. The Venezuelan newspaper’s Twitter account was hijacked by hackers who changed Twitter handle to “Goblintown.wtf”.
The Tweet promised the users would get 10,000 Goblintown NFTs in for providing their wallet addresses and other details – to complete the transaction process, as anyone would imagine.
The issue was that the naïve users decided to ignore that the website was also asking for passwords.
Things soon turned for the worst when the members clicked on the website. They didn’t realize that it was a phishing platform meant to extract their wallet information and fish their details.
So how much has the hacker stolen? We don’t know yet. Probably the newspaper is keeping that information under wraps because of the government. However, experts have speculated that more than a few hundred ETHS might have been stolen till now.
GoblinTown and its Infamy
GoblinTown is one of those NFT arts that gained quite a bit of popularity in the market within a short span of time. The artwork is gnarly, consisting of grotesque, slimy goblins that only a particular crowd would appreciate.
Luckily, the NFT space is right up its wheelhouse. However, it has left much of the crypto community divided.
The ironic and unapologetic NFT project has seen many supporters, a fact that has also caught the attention of some lawmakers.
Why? For one, no one knows who the developers are. It is as if they just dropped on to Twitter one day and decided to give away 10,000 Goblins.
It is not uncommon for developers to come forward once the praises start to come in. However, the developers of Goblintown haven’t done so yet. From what the community can tell, they’re artists that are introducing a grimy art style that got popularized back in the age of B-grade horror movies back into the fold. Their reason to do so is the ludicrous and almost foul artwork that Goblintown NFTs are composed of.
While one can appreciate some anonymity of the artists, it has also invited some of the biggest hacks in recent times. Fake Goblin claims are on the rise, and the Twitter NFT crowd is losing their hard-earned NFT left and right.
A few days ago, @topshotkief.eth got scammed out of 2 Mutant Ape Yacht Club and 8 Cool cats because of a fake Goblin claim.
I just clicked a fake goblin claim. 2 MAYC and 8 cool cats were stolen. Please someone help me. I’m devasted.
— topshotkief.eth (@topshotkief) June 4, 2022
It creates a larger conversation concerning NFT hacks.
Why do people keep falling for it?
Why does the NFT crowd keep falling for NFT hacks?
A few days ago, we reported that BAYC’s discord was hacked, scamming the community out of many NFTs. And Goblintown’s arrival has only highlighted the issue.
Hackers have been falling for phishing scams since the arrival of NFTs. The surprising part is that hackers’ techniques haven’t changed a lot, but the crowd still falls for it. Here is why?
- NFTs rely too much on community hype: Herd mentality takes over when a good NFT project arrives. The community overhypes a project to such an extent that some NFTs end up making millions of dollars overnight. It creates blue-chip NFT projects that everyone wants to get their hands on in any way possible. Desperation leads to moving away from logic. When someone hacks the developers’ social media handles and provides exclusively what the crowd wants, they accept it with open arms.
- The air of exclusivity: The air of exclusivity around the NFT projects is both an advantage and a disadvantage. An advantage is that it allows the developers to inflate the price quickly. It is a disadvantage because the crowd must pray to get their names in the whitelist spot. It leaves those desperately wanting to be added to the list to fall prey to phishing scams.
How to avoid NFT phishing scams?
It is the question that’s often asked on the internet and has the same answer – only you’re capable of staying vigilant. Here is the list of steps one can follow to prevent NFT scams:
- Don’t share your private keys with anyone
- Find out about NFT sellers – something Goblin Town NFT holders weren’t concerned with.
- Check out how many NFTs were sold in a day
- If the NFT offering looks suspicious, there is a high chance that it is.
- Always check for NFT prices on Opensea and other known websites.
- Buy NFTs only from marketplaces.
NFT phishing scams will continue to rise. Whether they remain the same or not is the question. The best things that the enthusiastic crowd can do is wait, reflect and invest wisely.
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