How to avoid scams in the NFT space
Being a very new market, the NFT Space is filled with a lot of scams and hackers.
Here are a few ways you can get scammed in this space:
Discord DMs : Many people pretend to be project owners and say that the mint has been preponed or that there is a stealth launch
For example:
The project Apes in Space was a highly anticipated NFT drop and many people wanted to get into the whitelist. As you see above there was a user impersonating the owner of the project and they sent a fake link which manipulates you to sending Ethereum without receiving anything in return.
How to avoid: Only use the official links that are in the discord server of the project you want to invest in.
2. Giveaway and Airdrop Scams
Many NFT projects do daily giveaways and airdrops and you may win in one of them. However, if you get a message that says that you have won a giveaway it is probably a scam. We recommend contacting the project owners when you do win a giveaway.
How to avoid: Most of the times, if you win a giveaway you won't be notified so if you do win
3. Rug-Pull Scams
A rug pull scam is one where the project is hyped up through social media channels and once the project does well, the owners suddenly stop backing it and they take their investors' money. There are many Instagram influencers who are paid to promote these kinds of projects and they may not know that the project is a rug pull.
How to avoid: Make sure you do your own research before deciding to invest in a project. Do not buy into a project just because you see famous influencers promoting them.
Example 1,
4. NFT phishing scam
There are many fake websites and pop-ups that may ask you for your private digital wallet key or your 12 word security phrases. Once they are in possession of your wallet these scammers can hack into your wallet and steal all your cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
How to avoid: Make sure you never share your 12 word security phrase with anybody.
5. Counterfeit NFT projects
There are many fake NFT collections on the secondary marketplaces impersonating the real NFT projects that may be performing well. These NFTs are not authentic and if you go to Ether-scan on the blockchain you can verify that the contract will not match.
As you can see above, the first suggestion is the verified project and the projects below it are trying to impersonate the verified project.
How to avoid: Check the NFT project's page on twitter and use the Opensea link in their discord server.