Man arrested for creating fake OpenSea website and stealing NFTs

2023-07-11 16:10:09

© Reuters Man arrested for creating fake OpenSea website and stealing NFTs

CriptoFácil – A man of Moroccan origin was arrested on Monday (10) by US prosecutors. According to prosecutors, the suspect named Soufiane Oulahyane, 25, created a fake OpenSea website and stole several NFTs, including two Bored Ape Yatch Club (BAYC).

In that process, the person stole a total of $450,000 worth of NFTs and cryptocurrencies. The value corresponds to approximately R$ 2.1 million based on the current exchange rate.

Spoofing de NFTs

According to US authorities, Oulahyane created the fake OpenSea website and tricked victims into sharing their passwords. In this way, the accused obtained the passwords that give access to the cryptocurrency and NFT wallets of the real OpenSea users.

In other words, Oulahyane obtained the data that users used to access their real OpenSea accounts. The scam is called spoofing, which means “imitate” in English, and consists of creating fake versions of legitimate websites. The scam is quite old, but still manages to make victims within the cryptocurrency market

“The practice is known as ‘spoofing,’ which is one of the oldest tricks in the criminal playbook. Oulahyane has adapted this ancient tool for use in a new and developing arena – the cryptocurrency market,” said Attorney Damian Williams, who is in charge of the case.

Furthermore, prosecutors accused Oulahyane of stealing cryptocurrency from an individual investor, but did not reveal the identity of the victim. After pulling off the scam, Oulahyane sold 39 of the NFTs on the real OpenSea. The Department of Justice (DoJ) stated that one of BAYC was among those sales.

The general NFT market is going through a difficult phase as a result of the sharp correction seen in 2022. After going through its peak in 2021, the minimum price of the largest collections has dropped and even reached its lows. But despite the drop in prices, NFT fraud and scams have increased.

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Fraud at OpenSea

According to the government investigation, Oulahyane paid for sponsored links on an unidentified search engine. The link redirected users to a fake website that looked like the OpenSea login page.

Once users entered passwords on this fake site, Oulahyane received the data and was able to access the accounts. According to prosecutors, the victims paid around $18,700 on BAYC and $3,400 to other NFTs, purchased using 9.88 Ether () and 1,789 ETH respectively. Therefore, only one of these victims had a loss of more than R$ 100,000.

Oulahyane faces charges of wire fraud, use of an unauthorized access device, aggravated identity theft and using an access device to steal at least $1,000. Furthermore, if convicted of fraud, he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

By CriptoFacil