Scammers Steal More Than IDR 4.6 Billion From NFT Users Who Want To Claim Airdrop Blur Token

The fraudsters continue to hunt down non-fungible token users (NFT) (photo: dock. Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Fraudsters continue to hunt down non-fungible token (NFT) users who are looking for ways to get the Blur token (BLUR) airdrop through multiple fraudulent sites.

According to data from TrustCheck, more than 300,000 US dollars (Rp4.6 billion) have been stolen from suspicious users who have linked wallets to malicious sites.

The legitimate Blur platform is a newcomer to the NFT market space, creating waves in the industry with a number of users and trading volume soaring directly as a result of the three-stage airdrop incentive scheme. A total of 10% of the total supply of Blur tokens is distributed to users based on their trading activities in the second airdrop token scheme starting February 15.

The first airdrop is retrospective, providing tokens to anyone who trades NFT on Ethereum six months before the launch of the platform in October 2022. The second airdrop gives tokens to users featuring NFTs before December 6, while the third gives tokens to users who place offerings on the platform after the feature launches.

Due to the incentive program mechanism, many users are looking for ways to claim BLUR tokens throughout the NFT ecosystem. This creates an opportunity for fraudsters to promote fake airdrop links to malicious sites.

Data shared with Cointelegraph from Ethereum-based Web3 browser security extension TrustCheck revealed that more than USD 300,000 funds have been stolen from 24 different fraudulent sites since February 15. A number of these websites are still working, with users reminded to be careful when connecting wallets.

These websites use smart contracts that automatically trigger transactions when users connect their Ether (ETH) wallets. All ETHs from wallets are then vacated to certain addresses, which have allowed TrustCheck to monitor the amount of stolen funds to date.

Tools like TrustCheck will tag suspicious websites and transactions, warning Web3 users about possible fake websites and smart contracts.

Blur is also in the spotlight because of reports of users trading fake NFTs to get airdrop token incentives. However, data analysis conducted by data scientist Hildebert Moulie in Dune shows that the NFT Blur trading volume is valid.

Fake websites and phishing attacks are common across the internet, while fraudsters continue to try to drain funds through Web3 functionality. In February 2023, a URL disguised as an ETHDenver conference website was linked to the well-known phishing wallet address that has stolen more than US$300.000 to date.

By the end of 2022, fraudsters are also hunting down FTX investors using phishing sites to try to recover funds after the crypto exchange's failure.