Another Ape Bites the Dust

With the varying range of NFTs, none come as popular as the Bored Apes (BAYC). A couple of days ago, one collector was scammed and lost over $570,000 to the scam swap that involved a fake BAYC NFT.

• Over a third-party service – swapkiwi, a collector was scammed out of a BAYC. Unlike other marketplaces like OpenSea, Swapkiwi allows NFT swaps between collectors reducing the gas fees.
• The scammer used images of actual Bored Apes and created fake replicas. The scammer then edited a checkmark (noting a verified NFT) onto the PNG.
• The verified checkmark should appear on the outside of the image to prevent these copycat attacks. Swapkiwi is working to improve the platform to prevent future scams.
• One collector lost out on a valuable and rare bubble gum ape (BAYC #1584) and two mutant apes that were worth over $570,000 to the scam swap.
• Swapkiwi released a statement telling customers to always double-check [NFTs] on OpenSea or Etherscan to ensure authenticity.

The scammer sold the bubble gum ape significantly lower than the BAYC floor, likely because they wanted to make it a fast transaction. The scammer also sold off both mutant ape derivatives at prices lower than the floor price for the collection. Remember to always take maximum precaution when purchasing/swapping an NFT to ensure authenticity.