From the compromised Beeple account, a targeted phishing operation scammed people of $ 438K in crypto and NFTs.
Fake NFT raffle links were posted on Beeple’s Twitter account to capitalize on his recent new relationship with Louis Vuitton, a luxury fashion company.
Beeple, a well-known non-fungible token (NFT) developer and digital artist, was the victim of a phishing attack on his Twitter account on Sunday, May 22.
Suppose you clicked on the link in Beeple’s tweet about a Louis Vuitton collaborative raffle. In that case, you’d be taking crypto out of your wallet, according to Harry Denley, a Security Analyst at MetaMask.
⚠️ Beeple’s Twitter account has been compromised (ATO) to post a phishing website to steal funds.pic.twitter.com/0MPNwOPlEu
— harry.eth 🦊💙 (whg.eth) (@sniko_) May 22, 2022
Scammers were presumably hoping to take advantage of a legitimate partnership between Louis Vuitton and Beeple. To celebrate the launch of “Louis The Game” earlier this month, Beeple created 30 NFTs as gifts for participants.
Users who clicked on the links from Beeple’s Twitter account were taken to phony collections, where they were promised a free mint for unique NFTs in exchange for their trust.
More than $ 438,000 stolen in just 5 hours
Around five hours after Beeple tweeted the phishing links, an on-chain scan of one of the crooks’ wallets revealed that they had received 36 Ethereum (ETH) worth around $73,000.
More than $365,000 worth of ETH and NFTs from high-value collections such as Mutant Ape Yacht Club, VeeFriends, and Otherdeeds were taken by the fraudsters through the second link.
NFTs are being sold on OpenSea, and ETH stolen by the fraudsters is being laundered to cover their tracks.
On regaining control of his account, Beeple tweeted: “ugh we’ll that was a fun way to wake up. Twitter was hacked, but we have control now. Huge thanks to
"a team for quick help!!!!"
“Stay safe out there; anything too good to be true IS A FUCKING SCAM. And as a side note, there will never be a SURPRISE MINT
I mention one time in one place starting at 6 am Sunday,” Beeple continued.
ugh we’ll that was fun way to wake up. 😫
Twitter was hacked but we have control now. Huge thanks to @garyvee ‘a team for quick help!!!! 🙏🙏🙏
May 22, 2022
Beeple is the creator of three of the ten most expensive NFTs ever sold, including the most costly one ever sold to a single purchaser at $69.3 million. Hackers are taking advantage of the attention he’s received.
Increasing NFT scams
Last month, scammers gained access to a Beeple Discord moderator account in November 2021 and advertised a similar false NFT drop, causing users to lose almost 38 ETH.
Hackers hacked the University of the Philippines’ Twitter for the NFT Drop Promotion of Takashi Murakami a few days back.
The hackers changed to account name to “Takashi Murakami,” then they announced an airdrop of “Murakami Flower Seed” non-fermentable seeds (NFTs). The bio was also removed, and the account’s location was changed to Tokyo.
According to some tweets, the NFTs were free to claim, but a ‘Gas’ price was imposed. However, the tweets were shortly deleted, and the account was restored.
Malwarebytes issued research earlier this month showing increased phishing attempts as scammers capitalize on the NFT excitement. According to the company, scammers frequently use fake websites that appear as reputable platforms.
