The NFT QR Code Scam

A few months ago I made a Buzz ( DBuzz post) about scammers pretending they were interested in your NFTs. Well it seems to be a common scam as another scammer tried it with me agian on instagram. At times I post my photography to insta to kinda promote my NFTs. But the only attention it gets, is that of el scammerz. Come along let me show you what this scam is made of.

It all starts with the scammer contacting you and telling you they are interested in your art or how great your work is and that they want to buy it ( why not just making an offer on the NFT makret place? ). They usually pose as a cute young white woman illustrated or photographed as the scammers believe they are the most trusted stereotype. They also link to an NFT collection on OpenSea which I know isn't theirs but it gives the image as if they are collectors/creators.

Now, this, "I like your work/I want to buy your work." goes straight to the emotions of the creator especially if they haven't been in crypto for long and like many, haven't sold a single of the "worthless JPEGs". I admit at first a part of me wanted to believe that someone wanted to buy my "art". Well there was a 5% pinch of hope, maybe this time might be different.

"Send me your OpenSea link"

So they actually didn't even look at my openSea even though it is right there in my profile? SO the scammer then went ahead and sent me the link to three of my photo NFTS they were "interested in buying" and offered me 3.4 ETH for them. Another emotion pull, greed is used this time. We can also see the scammer is getting anxious and excited as their greed is kicking in, they can't even type properly anymore.

Now this is kind of some believable shit if you were new to crypto.

"I pay first on Opensea and they generate QR for us and I send you then you need to pay the opensea gas fees around 0.06 eth after that all the amount added in your metamask wallet around 3.45eth"

And then they proceeded to ask if I have enough gas on my metamask. I knew it was a scam all along but I believe it is better to play along as much as you can in order to learn what scammers are up to these days. Unfortunately this scam will catch many people off guard and put crypto into the wallets of these scumbags. After the very short message exchange I just blocked them.

To learn more about opensea and who pays the gas fees and when, read here.

But in a nutshell

• If you list an item for sale, the buyer pays the gas when they purchase.
• It you only minted an NFT and it’s not listed for sale but someone makes an offer and you accept it, you the seller pay the gas fees.
• All transactions are done on the blockchain prompted by the OpenSea platform On the OpenSea platform.
• So there is no need for anyone to send you a QR Code!
• The QR code sent by these scammers is likely a payment request with the OpenSea logo in it. Once signed,your crypto is gone into the ether. ( pun intended ).

The scammers will try this tactic again and again until they find someone it works on. Don't let that be you. Stay vigilant in these digital streets. The bull market hasn't even started yet.

Illustrations generated via DALL.E.2.