The growth in popularity of NFTs has coincided with an explosion in NFT-related fraud. According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, one platform alone, DeviantArt, flagged over 90,000 potential NFT fakes in just three months.
Every day, NFT owners lose millions of dollars because of scammers' activity. In many cases, someone creates a total copy of an original NFT mint site and collects money from would-be buyers without offering anything in return.
One recent example of this is Karma Cats. Fans of the NFT collection were duped by a fake version of the website that looked shockingly similar to the official Karma Cats site. In total, $42,000 was stolen from NFT collectors, and Karma Cats’s reputation was negatively affected. Worse yet, the fraudulent site is still raking in money.
Another common tactic used by scammers is creating a total copy of an NFT and setting the sale price much lower than the original. NFT collectors then see this cheaper version of an NFT they’re interested in, think they’re getting a deal, and end up with a worthless fake.
Sowing distrust in the NFT community
The popular NFT collection, Azuki, has also seen numerous scams and ripoffs since its release. Here are a few examples of the sites impersonating Azuki:
- https://azuki.minting-lives.com/
- https://azuki.beforehand-wints.com//
- https://azuki.mintnvip.com/
Not only do these websites steal funds from potential buyers, but they also create feelings of distrust and apprehension. This may discourage buyers from purchasing an NFT and even push them out of the market altogether.
Working in uncharted territory
Copyright infringement laws have been on the books for centuries. However, traditional services for rights protection have been largely ineffective in preventing crime when it comes to protecting digital currency and digital assets.
Lawyers, arbitration, and courts are unable to keep up with the exponential growth of online scammers. NFT creators and owners need new ways to control their work online.
For the sake of both creators and collectors, it’s crucial that members of the community take the steps necessary to keep scammers at bay. In addition to protecting creators’ work from being stolen, it’s important for everyone involved in the creation and sale of digital assets to know that true creators are both trustworthy and care about the experience of their community.
A new tool for NFT protection MintPRO
To protect themselves from similar scams, big brands have employed automated tools that detect and shut down fraudulent activity before it does real damage. Lawyerd!, a fully automated platform for intellectual property protection, has made these tools available to the NFT community.
Their system works by finding and deleting scammers' sites using an AI digital lawyer in mere seconds. The platform even offers a feature that focuses specifically on mint day—when scammers are even more likely than usual to try to replicate assets or websites.
Additionally, Lawyered! in cooperation with Rarible created a browser extension (similar to MetaMask) called MintPRO that shows if a minting site is original or not. The extension make identifying and reporting fakes simple and intuitive. Here’s how it works:
Once MintPRO is installed, users can navigate to mint websites where the extension verifies whether the site is real or a fraud.
If a site is real, MintPRO will display This mint is original. However, if the site is unverified, MintPRO will display This mint looks suspicious. Additionally, users are given the option to mark a website as suspicious. This report is processed and verified by Lawyerd!, and then reported to the mint’s original owners.
MintPRO is also automatically compares mint addresses on websites with addresses registered in the Rarible database. This adds another layer of security and confirmation to help projects protect their collection and community.
Secure your NFT collection today!
Overall, Lawyerd!’s automation makes it 10 times faster and 28 times cheaper than alternative, more traditional solutions to copyright infringement. Lawyerd! has a strong focus on making their platform simple and accessible—ensuring everyone can protect their NFTs and community.
Lawyerd!’s specialized solution provides the NFT community with the tools to succeed and combat bad actors. While NFTs have garnered a reputation for scams and rugpulls, Lawyerd! looks to change that. Check out how we are helping NFT projects protect and secure their NFTs today!
Extension: MintPRO
Website: http://lawyerd.net
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lawyerd
Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lawyerd
