Fraudsters Stole $2.27M Worth NFTs in June: PeckShield

NFTs continue to attract not only more users but also capture the eyes of fraudulent entities. Web3 threat actors have set their sights on digital collectibles, with millions of funds being lost through different scams and attacks.

A new report suggested that such thefts in the NFT space declined in June but remain rampant.

NFT Theft: June Edition

Shedding light into the NFT crime landscape for the month, PeckShield’s analysis revealed that fraudsters stole approximately $2.27 million worth of NFTs. Despite this, June saw a 23% decline compared to the previous month, which recorded $2.95 million. This can be attributed to dwindling floor prices.

The latest figure is also over 85% lower than February’s high of a whopping $16.2 million.

The blockchain security firm further identified that half of the stolen NFTs were promptly sold on various marketplaces within a span of three hours of the theft. Prominent NFT marketplaces such as Blur emerged as a hotspot where nearly 86% of ill-gotten funds were sold, followed by OpenSea with 13.76%.

Meanwhile, the floor prices of NFT collections, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Otherdeed, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Azuki Elementals, as well as DeGods, have all tanked significantly.

Many whales view the market conditions to be an opportunity to amass more NFTs at low prices. Lookonchain revealed that a whale under the pseudonym “Machi Big Brother” raked in 84 Azuki NFTs over the past day to become the second-largest holder.

In terms of overall exploits in the digital asset industry, June was ranked the second-highest month this year.  Exploiters managed to pilfer over $92 million across 42 hacks.

NFT Exploits and Scams

Earlier this year, Nikhil Gopalani, the COO of RTFKT, lost $173,000 worth of NFTs from his wallet in an apparent phishing attack. Later investigation pointed out that Gopalani may have accidentally provided confidential information to a hacker who was posing as an Apple representative.

Phishing, scam projects, stolen and plagiarized NFTs, market manipulation, and rug pulls continue to dominate the NFT space. As reported earlier, more than $100 million worth of NFTs were stolen throughout 2022.