Buyer spends $336,000 on fake Banksy NFT
2 min readTL;DR Breakdown
• The person affected by the crypto scam lost $336,000.
• Banksy, the NFT artist, clarifies that his website was hacked.
An art lover spent around $336,000 on a Banksy NFT that turned out to be a fake. This art promoter is recognized worldwide for his street works, sculptures, urban art, and non-expendable token pieces.
This NFT scam is one of the most talked-about in the crypto markets. The NFT artist has otherwise clarified that his website was hacked.
Banksy scam: What happened?
According to the news, a malicious user who created a new section of NFT art broke Banksy’s official website. This supposed hacker published a link where an NFT auction was opened. The auction section disappeared when the artist announced that his site had been hacked.
The affected user offered almost 100 percent extra in the fake auction promoted on OpenSea, the largest NFT market on the internet. Banksy’s work team said this auction was not linked to the artist. However, the team has apologized for what happened.
Non-fungible tokens have shown an incredible rise in the digital art sector since last year. NFTs are “virtual” artworks that people can collect as a unique product. Many companies, artists, and athletes have benefited from the NFT boom for incredible profits.
The scam victim believed that he was buying a new non-expendable token from the artist. It was a very well-planned scam that left irreversible damage to the person who remains anonymous.
NFTs rise worldwide
Non-fungible tokens have impressively gained popularity in art. This NFT market has powered several local UK artists such as Banksy and abroad.
NFTs can be sold for a few dollars or even hundreds of millions, making it a lucrative trade. By March, Mike Winkelmann, a virtual artist known by his nickname “Beeple,” sold an NFT collection for about $69 million in Christie’s, NY. Beeple is among the highest-paid artists on the NFT market, and even his work is the most expensive today.
But the company Zed Run showed a digital work in which a racehorse was seen, and it was for $30 for each piece. The company raised around $250,000 from the entire sale of its horse collection.
While the NFT market looks promising to many, in another respect, it can lend itself to scams like Banksy’s. The UK artist is being investigated for virtual fraud, revealing more details in the coming days. Banksy’s works are still one of the best-selling in Europe, but the artist’s popularity may decline with these scam issues arising.
