High-profile NFT artist Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann claimed today that links pointing to his Discord server had been compromised and changed, instead leading fans and followers to a bogus copycat server that may steal the NFTs and tokens from those that engage with it.
“It appears our Discord URLs were hacked to point to a fraudulent Discord,” he tweeted. “DO NOT go into that Discord and do not verify, it will drain your wallet!!”
The Ethereum NFT “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” sale by well-known digital artist Beeple in March 2021 set the record for the highest-ever single NFT sale at $69.3 million. His other works include “HUMAN ONE,” a hybrid digital/physical installation from last year that sold at auction for $28.9 million.
Our discord URLs appear to have been hacked to direct users to a fake discord. DO NOT enter that discord without verifying; it will drain your bank account!
— beeple (@beeple) October 3, 2022
Based on his tweeted response, it appears that Beeple’s server, which is intended for collectors of his NFT work, requires authentication of ownership by linking an Ethereum wallet containing one of the acceptable NFTs. The perpetrators may be able to steal any NFTs or tokens stored in the wallet if a user connects that wallet to the fraudulent imitation server.
Assailants have increased the frequency of these scams recently by disseminating fraudulent “wallet draining” links using accounts they have taken over. Such hacks have affected numerous well-known projects and musicians on Twitter, including Beeple himself in May, but they have also been carried out on Discord and Instagram.
Users risk unintentionally allowing attackers to take money from their wallets when they connect to the smart contract—the computer code that powers NFT projects and decentralised applications—and grant it broad access permissions.
Users claiming to have been affected by the fraudulent Discord links were not mentioned by Beeple in any specific instances. Decrypt contacted the Beeple and Discord officials for more information, but neither responded right away.
Discord, a gaming-focused chat service, has come under fire from outspoken creators and collectors who have been hurt by such frauds even though many Web3 projects and creators utilise it to foster community and engage with supporters.
“Once again, massive thanks again to Discord for being garbage,” Beeple included in his tweet today.Following the breach of the project’s Discord, co-creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club Gordon Goner tweeted in June, “Discord isn’t working for Web3 communities. We need a better platform that puts security first.”
Jason Citron, the CEO of Discord and its founder, hinted at work on native integration of cryptocurrency wallets last year, but the idea drew criticism-especially from outspoken gamers.
Discord has “no current plans to ship this internal concept,” Citron tweeted a few days later. Instead of using tools that Discord offers, servers currently use automatic wallet verification services (bots) from other parties.
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