Crypto Scam: The OpenSea NFT Scam that's Robbing NFT Creators of their Hard-Earned Money

As an NFT creator myself, with my wares listed for sale on OpenSea, I was in for a rude shock when I realized someone was keen to rob me of some of my hard-earned Eth. Eth or Ether is the currency unit for the Ethereum network, which is what is mostly used on OpenSea to transact, i.e, buy and sell NFTs. OpenSea itself is the largest NFT marketplace in the world. Here's how the story went down.

The OpenSea NFT Scam that's Robbing NFT Creators of their Hard-Earned Money

Scammer: "Hello, I am Interested in Buying One of Your NFTs"

On just a normal average day, I got a Direct Message (DM) on my Instagram from an individual saying that he was interested in one of my NFTs, and was asking how much I'd be willing to sell it for. The individual named 'NFT1000000' first proposed to buy the piece of artwork for 3 Eth.

This was a good figure as currently, 1 Eth is equivalent to about $1400. 3 Eth was, therefore, a good amount but I countered his offer and told him that I would be willing to take 6 Eth for the NFT. 6 Eth was then about $10,000, a good sum for something I felt was truly valuable, and I thought he'd seen the value in too.

A Few Red Flags

As much as I was flattered that someone wanted to buy my NFT, I was also cautious and decided to do a background check. I went to the individual's Instagram profile. He didn't have that many pictures and there were just about seven pictures there, mostly of NFTs. His Instagram Profile Picture was also another NFT. There was no human face on there and that just seemed awkward to me. PS: The scammer later changed his Instagram username to whynot10_nft.

Checking the Scammer's Username on OpenSea

I then went to OpenSea and looked up his username: WhyNot1000000. I found the username and saw that he had quite a number of NFTs on there and that kind of reassured me that he probably does invest in NFTs. PS: Note that I am saying 'he' but it could have well been a lady, I am still not sure to this day. On his IG profile, there was the line: Why Not 1000000? I thought that was kind of interesting but it really didn't set off any alarms in my head.

Stepping Up to My Price of 6 Eth

The buyer/scammer, who we can now call Mr. X, stepped up to my price of 6 Eth and sent me a screenshot with a QR code that he told me to scan, which would take me to the transaction page.

All this was very surreal to me and I was half believing it and half just going along to see where it'd go.

I scanned the QR code as instructed and it took me to a secure.transaction.su page where I got an interface showing me my NFT and the 6 Eth.

Gas Fees

The interface indicated that the buyer had paid the 6 Eth and that I needed to connect my Crypto wallet so as to receive the Eth in my wallet. There was a catch, however, as when I connected my crypto wallet and tried to receive the amount, the transaction page on my wallet said that I didn't have enough gas fees and that I needed to top up my Eth to 0.5 Eth; to 'verify my identity' and be able to receive the 6 Eth which was about $10,000 dollars. I was in a dilemma.

The Rush to Top Up My Wallet to 0.5 Eth

I was now in a bind. On one side there were $10,000 dollars that had apparently already been paid; and on the other side, I needed 0.5 for gas fees to usher it into my wallet. The way the Eth blockchain works is that you need to pay transaction fees, also known as gas fees, in order to have a transaction go through.

Vitalik Buterin's Tax

The gas fees ensure that the blockchain only validates transactions whose prioritization is based on the ability to cater for the transaction fees. It is, essentially, Vitalik Buterin's tax for every transaction on his blockchain.

Saved by Lack

Luckily, I didn't have the 0.5 Eth liquid at the time. 0.5 Eth was then about $1,000 and by good or bad luck I didn't have it. I tried my best to raise the cash but at the moment I was starting my business back at home and was in a kind of cash crunch.

I tried to talk to Mr. X and tell him that since he's the one interested in buying the NFT, it is only right if he floats me the 0.5 Eth for me to pull the transaction through and then return it to him. I even suggested that he re-initiates the transaction, pay 5.5 Eth, and send me 0.5 Eth for the gas fees. He refused.

"You're Creeping Out the Investor"

According to Mr. X, my asking to be floated the 0.5 Eth was tantamount to creeping out the investor. He was like.. 'everyone should do his part. You said that I should pay 6 Eth for the NFT and I did and you should also pay the 0.5 Eth transaction fees.' This sent me into a mad rush to try and raise a thousand bucks and unlock my 10k dollars. I was stressed out and in a bind, I couldn't raise the money!

Never the Wiser

I sought some advice and realized that if Mr. X was really and actually interested in the NFT as he said, it would not have been an issue to float me the 0.5 Eth. The truth is that if you are buying something, like land for instance, you can float the seller fees for the land's name change, etc, and have them return it to you later; as a way to see the transaction go through and ensure you actually get to buy the land you want. Applying the same principle, I realized that maybe I was being taken for a ride. To confirm, I contacted OpenSea support.

Contacting OpenSea Support

I reached out to OpenSea with a screenshot of the transaction page that I had gotten to via the QR code sent to me by Mr. X. In about a day or so, OpenSea reached out to me and told me that there isn't such a thing. That wasn't their actual transaction page. It was a fake! An interface built to mimic OpenSea's transaction interface. Whoa! I was being conned and cheated out of my 0.5 Eth.

Confronting the Scammer

I confronted Mr. X letting him know that OpenSea had invalidated his claims that he'd actually paid the 6 Eth for my NFT and that I needed to pay 0.5 Eth as the transaction cost or gas fees. Mr. X was dumbfounded. I'd caught him in his lie and was lucky that I didn't have the 0.5 Eth to actually send to his bogus transaction page because had I sent the Eth, it would have disappeared and I wouldn't get the lucrative $10,000 for my NFT. My lack of liquidity had saved me. Phew!....

Lessons Learned

Whenever you are undertaking a huge crypto transaction on any blockchain please be very cautious. You may even be trading something on an exchange or buying something on the (dark) web. In whatever instance, please be very very careful! The number of crypto scams currently underway is unfathomable and scammers are getting really good at robbing people of their hard-earned money.

In my case, it was a beautifully presented bogus transaction page that nearly made me believe that I was actually about to sell one of my NFTs. You can imagine how many NFT creators this scam has robbed on OpenSea. Please take good care and if the deal is too good.., verify with the platform first, be it OpenSea or wherever else. Safety First. Always.

David Mania NFTs

Before I go, You can find all my NFTs on Opensea via this link. If you're a genuinely interested buyer, you can make an offer there and I could accept it or counter it. I create these NFTs as art and as unique, digital, and one-of-a-kind art that I believe those who see its beauty will buy and enjoy having the only single true and original version of the work of art. You can also find my NFTs on Rarible. God bless and please stay safe. The crypto space is anything but.