In what seems like a continuation of the rising trend of scams and phishing attacks in the crypto/NFT space, Discord groups belonging to Yuga Labs have been breached. Yuga Labs is a household establishment in the NFT space and the creator of two of the most prominent ape-themed NFTs – OtherSide and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).
Late Saturday, two discord groups linked to BAYC and OtherSide NFT offerings were breached, representing yet another coordinated phishing attack in as many months. Investors in the NFT projects were said to lose over 145 ETH.
Reporting the phishing attack, OKHotshot, a member of the Crypto Twitter Community and a blockchain detective, tweeted to alert investors and potential investors about the compromise of both official Discord groups linked to the two NFT offerings.
Per OKHotshot’s investigations, the phishing attacks were planned and carried out by hackers who hacked into the Discord account of a community and social manager of Yuga Labs, Boris Vagner.
Having gained access to Vagner’s Discord account, the scammers distributed several phishing links from Vagner’s account into the official Discord groups of the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and OtherSide offerings.
Unaware that a phishing attack was ongoing, many users in the Discord groups fell prey to the phishing links promising limited-quantity giveaways for NFT holders, as seen in the screenshot attached above. In concluding the report of their findings, OKHotshot revealed that certain wallets held and transferred the compromised NFTs. This attack is the second in two weeks for BAYC. Yuga Labs is yet to release an official statement or comment on the attack as of press time.
On May 25, a member of Proof Collective fell victim to a scam and lost 29 high-value Moonbirds NFT worth over 750 ETH.
Proliferating NFT Scams: A Cause For Alarm?
It is still unclear what extent of damage the latest Yuga Labs breach has caused financially and in terms of investor confidence. Considering the popularity of Yuga Labs and the ease of the breaches, several commentators have sounded the alarm bells over the need for tighter measures to secure the assets of investors.
However, what is clear is that the proliferation of crypto and NFT scams are a wake-up call for asset owners to remain cautious when dealing with foreign links and third-party platforms.
