Objects of speculation prized by collectors, NFTs (non-fungible token, Editor’s note) are transforming the art and culture markets. So much so that this phenomenon of “digital goods” also serves the crooks. Users of Fractal, an online platform for buying and reselling NFTs, have just had a bitter experience. Indeed, as reported by Le Figaro and Phonandroid, on December 21, hackers managed to steal “800 Solana cryptocurrency tokens” by hacking the Discord account of certain Fractal employees.
Thanks to the access of these employees, the hackers were able to post a fraudulent ad. “We are going to put on sale 3,333 NFT which will quickly leave (…). Remember, you can only pay with the Solana cryptocurrency”, specified the announcement, quoted by Le Figaro. An attractive offer in which 373 people (out of 100,000 users) went head first. The victims clicked on the link in the ad, which referred to a bogus site.
>> To read also – NFT: the first SMS in history sold a fortune at auction
“The hacker siphoned off around 800 Solana cryptocurrency tokens, the equivalent of $ 150,000 (or 130,000 euros),” confirmed Fractal. “On average, each Fractal fan has lost 2.3 SOL ($ 411),” detailed NFT industry expert Tim Cotten as quoted by Phonandroid.
>> To read also – He thought to afford the first NFT work of Banksy for 300,000 euros
Faced with this security flaw, the platform has undertaken to compensate the cheated users. “Fractal plans to fully compensate these 373 victims. We will need a few days,” said the company, which was nonetheless pleased that “the hacker only managed to fool 0.3% of our community” .