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Do you know how to identify a NFT scams if need be?
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) exploit the market, becoming a multi-billion dollar sector of the crypto industry. Despite being considered as new, NFTs signal one of the biggest adoptions of cryptocurrencies, involving a considerable amount of money, which ends up creating very lucrative opportunities for criminals.
Scams involving NFTs are becoming more and more sophisticated, which increases your risk of being scammed. Here we will present some tips, so that you can protect yourself from these scams.
What is an NFT Scam Game?
With the development and diversification of NFT games, the question remains as to whether the game has a good project or is a scam. This point is very complicated, since some games start with bad projects, but they change until they become a project and vice versa, some projects can appear to be good and over time become Scam.
Scam is a scheme that presents a deceptive or fraudulent action in order to obtain some financial advantage. In the gaming world, Scam is a game developed in order to deceive its users.
There are some typical cases of NFT scams in games:
1 – The game went into maintenance without explanation from the developers and has not returned.
2 – Withdrawal was disabled without any warning.
3 – The developers sold the reward pool currency.
4 – Website down.
How to assess if a NFT game is safe?
It will never be possible to evaluate something as 100% safe, but there are some practices that can help you choose which project you will invest your time and money in.
1 – Site/Roadmap/Whitepaper: It is always important to pay attention to the details, observe the site, after all anyone can create a website. It should contain the Roadmap, a planning guide with the expected dates for the next steps in the game’s development, as well as the Whitepaper, the document in which the developers present all the details about the game.
2 – Partners and investors: A project usually has solid partners, so check which companies are behind the development of the game.
3 – Tokenomics: It is the part that comprises the financial characteristics of the game, supply and demand of cryptocurrencies.
4 – Public developers: It is very important to verify who the game developers are, if they are public figures.
5 – Community: A crowded community does not mean that the game is reliable, observe the interaction and engagement, if the moderators post content regularly or have team support.
What are the most common NFT scams and how to avoid them?
In addition to Scams in games there are other NFT scams. We list the main ones for you to be aware to avoid them.
Phishing and Pop-ups
To buy an NFT, you need to create an account in a digital wallet that makes transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. Some companies responsible for digital wallets have already been the target of scams, in which their customers received false advertisements requesting the access keys of the wallets.
It is also common for fake pop-ups to operate on public forums, leading to pages that appear to be the real thing.
If a criminal gains access to your personal information, he could steal all your cryptocurrencies, so it is very important to be aware.
Catfishing and Fake profiles
Sales of NFTs are completely virtual, as is their marketing, so it is very easy to fall victim to catfishing, when a person creates multiple fake virtual identities to deceive other users.
So if one day you get a direct message from someone saying they’re some executive, celebrity or influencer, don’t respond. The rule is the same as for telemarketing calls: If someone sends you a link, don’t click or reveal your details.
“Pump and Dump” Schemes
Pump and Dump schemes are becoming common and predictable in the cryptocurrency world. This practice happens when a group of people buys several assets, causing an artificial increase in demand, and then makes a mass sale, leaving the others with assets that are worthless.
That’s why it’s very important to analyze the history and portfolio records of the project that interests you. Momentary growths should be a wake-up call to you. Blockchain transparency will come in very handy.
Bidding Hits
This scam is common in the secondary market, when selling an NFT to the highest bidder. Once you put your token up for sale, interested people can exchange the used cryptocurrency without warning.
So always check the used cryptocurrency more than once and never accept a lower bid than you want.
