In a phishing scam, comedian Seth loses four NFTs, including a Bored Ape worth $200,00.
“Austin Powers” actor Seth Green is the latest victim of a massive phishing scam. On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania-born Green took to Twitter to announce that four valuable NFTs were stolen from his wallet.
In his tweet, the 48-year-old Hollywood star said he is currently working to resolve the issue, especially after another used purchased his stolen Bored Ape.
“Well, frens it happened to me. Got phished and had 4NFT stolen,” Green said. “Please don’t buy or trade these while I work to resolve.”
He also addressed a Twitter user who seemingly purchased the stolen BAYC NFT for $268,000.
How Seth’s NFTs Were They Stolen
The four stolen NFTs are from some of the most popular NFT collections—Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) #8398, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) #s9964 and 19182, and Doodles # 7546. All four NFTs have been flagged on OpenSea as “reported for suspicious activity.”
While it’s difficult to calculate the actual value of the stolen assets given the recent fall in Ethereum prices, Green’s NFTs have an overall value of about $290,000, give or take. At the time of writing, each piece’s floor price is Ξ 13.50 or about $26,400 (Doodles), Ξ 19.95 or roughly $39,000 (each for the two MAYCs), and Ξ 95 or around $185,700 (for the BAYC).
A concerned Twitter user asked Green how the NFTs were stolen. Green was trying to purchase another NFT—Gutter Clone (a spinoff from another popular collection, Gutter Cats)—prompting him to connect his wallet to the site, which turned out to be a scam website. “Phishing link looked clean,” he said.
Based on the actor’s wallet history, the NFTs were stolen on May 8.
Scam Victims Have Limited Options
In such cases, scam victims usually have limited options since cryptocurrency and NFT transactions cannot be reversed. Crypto and NFT operate under blockchain technology, and the whole point of it is decentralization, meaning the aforementioned assets are not under any centralized authority’s control.
As mentioned previously, Opensea, the largest NFT marketplace thus far, has tagged the stolen NFTs as “suspicious” and has barred anyone from bidding on them. However, this move was made only after another buyer purchased Green’s stolen BAYC.
Back in January, Yat Siu, the co-founder of Animoca Brands, took to Twitter to announce that his son, a minor, was victimized by a fraudster on OpenSea. After the incident, Siu said in a tweet that phishing is a form of fraud; thus, the best recourse for scam victims like Green is to report their loss to the police or FBI and go to a public forum to make the theft public.
“If a buyer knowingly purchases a suspicious NFT that was stolen goods, he becomes personally liable,” Siu tweeted. “Marketplaces or organizations that—now knowing that the goods have been stolen—that do not take action may potentially make themselves liable as well.”
Green is fully invested in Web3 culture, evidenced by his expansive NFT portfolio, which still has over $250,000 worth of NFTs even after the theft. Moreover, he created an NFT collection, PizzaBots, which he released to coincide with last month’s 4/20 celebration. Currently, he is working with another NFT enthusiast, renowned DJ Steve Aoki, on Dominion X, a TV show connected to an NFT collection.
Get more news updates
Get more NFT news updates at Omnimint News. For more information on Omnimint, and details on how to join our community, please follow our Twitter, or subscribe to ourTelegram channel for more updates, and please feel free to submit your article.