Another phishing incident has again popped up in the digital asset industry as the famous NFT artist, Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann, is the latest victim of scammers.
Scammers Target Beeple’s Discord Server
Phishing scammers have targeted Beeple’s official Discord URL. The attackers target unaware users by sending them a link to a wallet-draining channel on Discord.
As a result, the artist warned users on October 3 about the ugly incident. Beeple cautioned users about following a link to another channel in a message to his community. He added that the “fraudulent” Discord channel is designed to drain people’s wallets.
it appears our discord URLs were hacked to point to a fraudulent discord. DO NOT go into that discord and do not verify, it will drain your wallet!!
once again massive thanks again to discord for being garbage. 👍
— beeple (@beeple) October 3, 2022
Moreover, the NFT artist was not the only one who noticed the URL breach. A Twitter user has an earlier post suggesting that Beeple’s Discord URL may have been tampered with.
According to the account of the Twitter user, the URL shows a “Collab.Land Bot” on Discord. The link directs users to a channel where the scammers will completely drain them.
However, Beeple claimed that the URL hacking was Discord’s fault, while the crypto community on Twitter points to a weak security architecture as the reason for the phishing attack.
Refuting Beeple’s statement, an NFT analyst claimed the mismanagement of the URLs led to the event. The expert explained that what happened is similar to that of CryptoBatz, where developers failed to maintain the URLs’ security adequately.
Furthermore, a cyber-security firm, Black Alchemy Solutions Group, believes it is not just a “Discord problem,” as widely discussed. People’s security systems were mismanaged. The artist failed to hire a
cyber security expert to handle his Discord server, says the company.
Beeple has already fixed the URL issue, as revealed by sources familiar with the incident.
Honey Pot for Scammers
Scammers appear to drool on the opportunity to target Beeple’s online presence more often. Having sold some of the most expensive NFT collectibles, it is no surprise that Beeple is a hot commodity among scammers.
The artist’s social media platforms have recently experienced increased attacks from scammers. Some of Beeple’s clients include SpaceX, Apple, Louis Vuitton, and other high-profile brands.
Last May, a security breach of his account saw hackers net $438,000 in crypto and NFT assets. The incident happened after hackers hijacked his Twitter account when the artist had an ongoing NFT collaboration with Louis Vuitton.
Moreover, in November 2021, Beeple’s Discord account was also involved in another scam. In this case, an admin account was compromised, allowing hackers to post fake NFT airdrops. The scammers netted an estimated 38 ETH worth $176,378.14.
On a broader scale, the industry has become ripe for hackers who see it as another golden goose of the internet era. Scammers go where the money is, which rings true for the NFT ecosystem. The industry has traded billions of dollars worth of digital collectibles since its explosion into the mainstream.
Meanwhile, Beeple did not reveal the number of users impacted by the latest malicious links on his Discord server.