YouTuber lures MMA fighter into fake NFTs secretly for $1K
While the support of many A-list celebrities accelerated the non-fungible token (NFT) boom in 2021 and 2022, some promoted unsupervised projects to fans without knowing whether they were legitimate or scams. The practice will retain its popularity in 2023 as markets recover.
In the campaign, Danis tweeted out a digital image with a web address, which, according to Coffeezilla, “literally spells out SCAM”. A further investigation by Cointelegraph shows that the website was newly created on February 1, 2023 – an important clue to check when checking the credibility of new projects.
Also, the website FAQ mentions that no investors can get hold of the “Sourz” NFTs, an important piece of information overlooked by MMA fighter.
A similar incident involving Kim Kardashian was flagged in June 2021 by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when she promoted the EthereumMax (EMAX) crypto token to her 330 million Instagram followers. According to the SEC, Kardashian violated the anti-touting provision of the Securities Act by failing to disclose the $250,000 she had received for the campaign.
However, Coffeezilla made sure that the users who fell for the scam NFT project were notified immediately. When users click on the “Mint Sourz” button (as shown in the screenshot above), they are redirected to a website that warns of a possible scam.
While Coffeezilla plans to share more information through a follow-up video, the incident is a stark reminder for influencers and investors to do their own research before promoting or investing in a project.
Related: FBI seizes $100,000 in NFTs from fraudsters after ZachXBT investigation
Little Shapes NFT, a project launched in November 2021, was a “social experiment” designed to shed light on large-scale NFT bot network fraud on Twitter, according to pseudonymous founder Atto.
“I needed a story that sells to make sure that no one would ignore a story that hurts,” Atto explained when explaining the intention behind the launch of the NFT project.
Little Shapes was marketed as an upcoming avatar-style project with 4,444 NFTs that would allow owners to interact and change the artwork in real time.
