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Hacked Beeple Account Nets Scammers $438,000 in Cryptos and NFTs

By:
Bob Mason
Published: May 23, 2022, 06:45 UTC

An NFT phishing attack targeted Beeple followers on Sunday. Despite increased efforts to curb illegal activity, cybercriminal activity has surged in 2022.

NFT hacks surge in 2022

Key Insights:

  • Cybercriminals hacked Beeple’s Twitter account to hit NFT collectors with a Louis Vuitton NFT phishing scam.
  • Beeple is behind Everydays: The First 5000 Days that Christie’s sold for $69.3 million, the most expensive NFT sold to a single buyer.
  • NFT scams have surged in 2022, despite increased efforts to curb illegal activity.

Illicit activity across the NFT space shows no sign of abating any time soon. The increased risk of capture has done little to deter cybercriminals as mainstream interest in NFTs accelerates.

In the US, the US Secret Service, a new FBI crypto unit, and a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) are currently targeting cybercrime. Yet, phishing scams, rug pulls, and ransomware crimes continue to hit investors in the US and beyond.

Despite the increased risk of capture, cybercriminals were back in action over the weekend.

Beeple Twitter Account Hacked as Part of a Phishing Scam

On Sunday, cybercriminals targeted world famous NFT creator Beeple’s Twitter account as part of the latest phishing scam.

MetaMask Security Analyst Harry Denley alerted Beeple’s Twitter followers of an account hack to post a phishing website to steal funds.

 

Denley also shared a copy of the phishing scam, which included a link to a Louis Vuitton NFT raffle. The attack would then drain crypto from the wallets of users clicking the link.

It was a two-pronged attack, with Denley alerting users of a second phishing scam reportedly more sophisticated than the first.

 

The first attack netted 36 Ethereum (ETH) and the second about $365,000 in ETH and NFTs.

Four hours after Denley’s first alert, Beeple tweeted that his account was back under his control.

 

With mainstream players taking a greater interest in Web3, collaborations to launch collections have given cybercriminals another avenue to scam collectors.

NFT Crime Surges by 667% in First Four Months of 2022 on FY2021

Scammers are not only targeting Twitter in phishing accounts but also Instagram and platforms lacking the appropriate security measures.

While hauls were not newsworthy in 2021, the surge in the value of NFTs this year has made the NFT market a lucrative target.

According to Top10 VPN,

“Financial losses from NFT crime are 667% higher in 2022 than over all of 2021.”

Other key stats include,

  • In the first four months of 2022 alone, NFT hacks led to losses of almost $52 million compared with less than $7 million in 2021.
  • Cryptojacking is up by 86% in 2022 compared to the monthly average in 2021.
    • North America is increasingly a target, accounting for 91% of all known incidents in 2022, up from 82% in 2021.
  • IoT malware is up 95% in 2022 versus the monthly average in 2021.
    • North America is seeing the largest growth in IoT malware, up 151% vs 2021.

Top10VPN also provided a table of hacks that led to financial loss.

Cybercrime Numbers

The five largest hacks took place in 2022, totaling $41.7 million, with sports NFT platform Lumpo seeing a hot wallet breach and a loss of $18.7 million.

Based on these numbers, agencies will have their work cut out to deter scammers, protect investors, and support continued growth in the virtual asset space.

About the Author

Bob Masonauthor

With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.

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