The NFT market has seen a number of emblematic developments since its historic appearance in 2020. And the latest concerns an unlikely approach to the Bitcoin blockchain, with Ordinals, whose backlash on Ethereum has just taken the form of Ethscriptions. A good way to lose all, in a market where phishing procedures are numerous.
A study conducted in April 2022 showed that 90% of NFT holders have fallen victim to such a scam. That's a frightening number, with tens of millions of dollars stolen from thousands of victims. And it's a far cry from conventional wisdom, this criminal activity could be carried out by a majority of young high school students. , aided by so-called “NFT drainers”.
NFT drainers – A turnkey scam
The principle is simple and immutable: each innovation is accompanied by a dedicated scam. It is a logic that one could almost adopt, even if it must be said that scammers are much faster than regulators. But the emergence of new technologies is changing the game, particularly when it comes to cryptocurrencies and their derivatives such as NFT tokens.
Some smart people are developing turnkey “drainage” procedures to allow as many people as possible to participate in digital scams. In short, these are computer codes that can be applied to specific websites or specific networks, such as Discord, with the aim of stealing the digital assets held by victims who have previously been phished. The only requirement from the developer, a 20% to 30% share of the (mis)earned profits from the use of its code.
And unfortunately this type of practice is currently developing far beyond the reasonable. With a "for profit" version that is far from the activity of North Korea, which has a reputation for being very active in stealing everything digital.
And among the best-known formulas today is the very first multi-chain Venom version, the official replacement for the historic leader Monkey. An NFT Drainer Behind The Theft Of 2.200 NFTs With A Total Estimated Value Of $9,3M And $7M In Cryptocurrenciesaccording to data from cybersecurity firm PeckShield. But its developer hung up his gloves last February, not without stressing that “not all young cybercriminals should get lost in the search for easy money”. No comment…
NFT drainers – 95% of high school students under 18
But the most relevant data of this study is elsewhere. According to the cybersecurity researcher who answers to the pseudonym of Plum, employed by the Opensea platform, 95% of the initiators of these phishing campaigns "are children under the age of 18 who are still in secondary school"..” How does he know? Because, according to him, these children obviously make little effort to hide their wrongdoings or the source of their newfound wealth.
"I have personally spoken to many of them and I know they are still in school. I have seen photos and videos of many of them in their schools. They talk about their teachers, how they fail in class or how they have to do their homework.. "
Also, just look at the recurring purchases made with the winnings from these scams. As Plum points out again, most purchases are laptops, smartphones, Uber Eats orders, paying someone to do homework… or even large sums of money on the Roblox video game. In fact, “all of them play Roblox for the most part. So they buy the coolest gear for their Roblox avatars, skins and stuff like that." This is comforting for the victims of these scams!
That's why Plum is surprised not to see more arrests or police operations to try to curb this trend. Despite some ploys to cover their tracks, such as paying people in emerging countries to use their personal data to register on exchanges, In the end, tracking them down is quite simple. In many cases.
But of course, the law has no use for these petty NFT crooks. And so they can continue to thrive, benefiting from the "God way" associated with their young age and the impunity they enjoy.
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