As the NFT market has proliferated, so has the dark underbelly of scammers, copycats, and otherwise unsavory characters. The last week saw a particular increase in a scam which involved stealing the contents of artists wallets with the opening of a single file (more below), and the scams are sure to keep coming in different forms and from all angles. Here are some tips to stay safe as an NFT artist in this day and age:
1. Keep your seed phrase safeand consider a hardware wallet
The number one rule is to never, ever give anyone your seed phrase, for whatever reason. In fact, you should not even keep your seed phrase stored on your computer or any digital medium. Best is to have it on paper, perhaps in two different places (what if the first location burns down?), and if you’re dealing with large amounts of ETH, it would be wise to invest in a hardware wallet for an added layer of security.
2. Be extra vigilant about new collaboration requests
Especially if they want you to review the project details by opening files on your computer (watch out especially for .scr files, but really you should question any file type as it is often not immediately clear what the file extension might be). Below are some examples of recent scams, which all start off with an elaborately detailed collaboration or commission request which is sure to catch the eager artist off guard.
3. Don’t pay gas to someone who promises to buy your NFT’s
I can’t locate a tweet about this currently, and this seems to be a scam that had its time a bit earlier, but another trick that seems to be used is a “collector” who contacts an artist and engages in conversation, complimenting the artwork and offering to buy the artwork. At the last minute, after hours (or days) of excitement on the artists part of finally getting a sale, the collector suddenly pulls a trick, asking the artist to pay for the gas fees for the transaction, as their wallet is in a different type of cryptocurrency (or any other reason). The artist reasons that this is just a small percentage of the price of the sale and sends ETH directly to the fake collector’s wallet, who promptly disappears right afterwards. If someone is interested in buying your artwork, they will never ask you to pay the gas for the transaction.
4. Watch out for fake customer service and official looking websites
Fake customer support accounts and fake, official looking websites seem to pop up here and there despite being reported and disappearing just as quickly. This is another thing you can count on appearing periodically as well, and some simple ways of identifying a fake would be: 1. New account / low follower count if on Twitter 2. Typos, strange grammatical errors during communication 3. Slightly different website addresses than the official accounts (see below)
5. Extra tips from the experts:
Some common sense, but a lot of pearls to learn from some of the experts in the field. But really, as Vince says, you’re likely already doing most things you need to do, so no need to panic- just use your best judgement, be very skeptical of anyone who ever asks for your seed phrase or sends you a file to open, and if in doubt, check with a trusted friend before jumping into something that doesn’t feel right. Stay safe out there friends!
Strategies for staying safe as an NFT artist
As the NFT market has proliferated, so has the dark underbelly of scammers, copycats, and otherwise unsavory characters. The last week saw a particular increase in a scam which involved stealing the contents of artists wallets with the opening of a single file (more below), and the scams are sure to keep coming in different forms and from all angles. Here are some tips to stay safe as an NFT artist in this day and age:
1. Keep your seed phrase safe and consider a hardware wallet
The number one rule is to never, ever give anyone your seed phrase, for whatever reason. In fact, you should not even keep your seed phrase stored on your computer or any digital medium. Best is to have it on paper, perhaps in two different places (what if the first location burns down?), and if you’re dealing with large amounts of ETH, it would be wise to invest in a hardware wallet for an added layer of security.
2. Be extra vigilant about new collaboration requests
Especially if they want you to review the project details by opening files on your computer (watch out especially for .scr files, but really you should question any file type as it is often not immediately clear what the file extension might be). Below are some examples of recent scams, which all start off with an elaborately detailed collaboration or commission request which is sure to catch the eager artist off guard.
3. Don’t pay gas to someone who promises to buy your NFT’s
I can’t locate a tweet about this currently, and this seems to be a scam that had its time a bit earlier, but another trick that seems to be used is a “collector” who contacts an artist and engages in conversation, complimenting the artwork and offering to buy the artwork. At the last minute, after hours (or days) of excitement on the artists part of finally getting a sale, the collector suddenly pulls a trick, asking the artist to pay for the gas fees for the transaction, as their wallet is in a different type of cryptocurrency (or any other reason). The artist reasons that this is just a small percentage of the price of the sale and sends ETH directly to the fake collector’s wallet, who promptly disappears right afterwards. If someone is interested in buying your artwork, they will never ask you to pay the gas for the transaction.
4. Watch out for fake customer service and official looking websites
Fake customer support accounts and fake, official looking websites seem to pop up here and there despite being reported and disappearing just as quickly. This is another thing you can count on appearing periodically as well, and some simple ways of identifying a fake would be: 1. New account / low follower count if on Twitter 2. Typos, strange grammatical errors during communication 3. Slightly different website addresses than the official accounts (see below)
5. Extra tips from the experts:
Some common sense, but a lot of pearls to learn from some of the experts in the field. But really, as Vince says, you’re likely already doing most things you need to do, so no need to panic- just use your best judgement, be very skeptical of anyone who ever asks for your seed phrase or sends you a file to open, and if in doubt, check with a trusted friend before jumping into something that doesn’t feel right. Stay safe out there friends!