Brooklyn’s District Attorney said his office had shut down 40 fraudulent non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace websites after an 85-year-old artist was conned out of $135,000 by a scammer.
The victim was contacted on LinkedIn by someone posing as an art dealer who convinced him to mint his artwork on a fake NFT marketplace resembling the New York-based OpenSea website, the DA’s office <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="http://brooklynda.org/2024/12/06/brooklyn-district-attorney-shuts-down-40-domains-associated-with-nft-crypto-scam-targeting-artists-after-brooklyn-painter-lost-over-135000/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> on Dec. 6.
He was later told he’d made $300,000 in profit, but to access it, he had to send a $135,000 “fee,” which he sourced by liquidating his retirement account, credit card payments and a loan.
He soon realized he wasn’t going to get the $300,000 promised, leaving him “emotionally and financially devastated,” the DA’s office said.
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 <img alt="Fraud, New York, Scams" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-12/0193a8f3-aefb-7ee7-ad90-6008f9a74264" title="">
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 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/BrooklynDA/status/1865076754852843909" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/BrooklynDA/status/1865076754852843909">Eric Gonzalez</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the “tactics used in this case” led investigators “to a network of fraudulent websites that specifically scammed artists.”
<blockquote>
 “It is my hope that by shutting these domains and raising awareness about this scheme, we will prevent others from falling victim to this scam.”
</blockquote>
His office added that two other artists, from Georgia and California, also fell for the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/nft-swap-order-scams" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">same NFT scam</a>.
The District Attorney’s Virtual Currency Unit traced the funds to accounts at an <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nigeria-sec-enforces-crypto-regulations-unregulated-transactions" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">exchange in Nigeria</a>, which “primarily cashed out for Nigerian currency — foreclosing the ability for recovery.”
It added that the fake OpenSea-style website also “appeared to be controlled and paid for from Nigeria,” and that some of the now-shuttered websites prompted visitors to input their crypto wallet seed phrase, “which would give scammers the ability to completely drain the contents of users’ online wallet.”
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/unmasking-the-top-10-crypto-scammers" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Unmasking the top 10 crypto scammers and their tactics</a>
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office emphasized the importance of using established <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/the-nft-marketplace-how-to-buy-and-sell-nonfungible-tokens" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">NFT marketplaces</a> to sell work and to be alert at all times for <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/what-is-a-phishing-attack-in-crypto-and-how-to-prevent-it" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">phishing attempts</a> via email or phishing websites that appear to resemble well-known NFT marketplaces.
It also told artists never to reveal their <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/private-keys-vs-seed-phrases" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">crypto wallet seed phrase</a>.
“If it seems too good to be true, it likely is,” it said. “Do your own research and seek opinions from fellow artists.”
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/china-usdt-scam-indodaxs-free-money-damage-control-asia-express/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">China’s ‘point running’ crypto scams, pig butchers kidnap kids</a>

Brooklyn DA shutters 40 NFT scam sites after artist loses $135K

Cointelegraph

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