As the situation progresses, the number of victims impacted by phishing scams tied to NFT airdrops on the Polygon network has risen significantly, resulting in over $1.2 million in losses. Scam Sniffer, an on-chain anti-scam cryptocurrency service, has recently uncovered information regarding this fraudulent activity and issued a warning about the ongoing growth in the number of victims.
Throughout their investigation, Scam Sniffer uncovered approximately 1,354 counterfeit NFTs on the Polygon network. These deceptive NFTs were designed to mimic legitimate airdrops from well-known projects like ApeCoin, Polygon, and Uniswap.
Victims who received these NFTs through airdrops were enticed to visit websites connected to Inferno Drainer, a prominent “Scam As a Service” provider responsible for orchestrating fraudulent activities resulting in a staggering $13 million in losses over the past few months. Astonishingly, the scammers transferred the NFTs to a massive number of 530,000 wallets, leaving 329 victims with a combined loss amounting to $1.25 million.
Upon accessing their portfolio trackers or wallets, individuals were immediately drawn to these NFTs, capturing their attention. However, upon clicking on these NFTs, users were redirected to deceptive websites. Regrettably, many victims unknowingly signed signatures while going through the airdrop claim process. Analysis of on-chain data revealed that the total gas consumption for the airdrop was remarkably low, amounting to a mere $17,827.
Hence, The rising prevalence of phishing scams targeting NFT users highlights the critical requirement for enhanced security measures within the cryptocurrency community. Particularly, social engineering tactics play a substantial role in these scams, as scammers employ various strategies to deceive users and obtain sensitive information such as passwords or seed phrases. This incident serves as a reminder to the cryptocurrency community about the paramount importance of remaining vigilant. To safeguard oneself against such scams, it is highly recommended to consult our comprehensive guide on NFT and cryptocurrency security in collaboration with Ledger.
