NFT Scams are on the Rise

Non Fungible tokens (NFTs) saw a breakthrough in 2021, and the trend may continue this year. Even though this is good news for the NFT community, there are many risks involved in buying any NFT. According to Chainalysis, hackers made $14 billion from crypto-related hacks last year, and cryptocurrency crime has increased 79% - and the risk is not over. Today we'll discuss the NFT scams and how one project is attempting to turn things around after a rug pull.

As NFTs continue to gain popularity, scammers are also trying to take advantage of the situation. It is common for NFT scammers to inflate the floor price by using fabricated or misleading information. Those who are successful in their tactics leave the other persons empty-handed as they sell their items. 

Additionally, scammers create fake pop-ups to link to sites that seem legitimate. Many first-time buyers will accept the offer to get help with investing in NFTs if they are struggling to get the deal done. Scammers use digital disguises to access personal information from you so they can steal all of your assets. 

Among the common NFT-scams is the third related to intellectual property. NFT collections are incredibly time-consuming to build, so it's disappointing when someone copies them. As a result, buyers will believe they are bidding on original artwork and place high bids. Let’s look at one NFT scam incident that came to our attention. 

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The Rug Pull

The crypto space is not immune to NFT scams. We were recently contacted by a community member from Doodle Apes who goes by the name Green_Regime. Earlier, he was a team member of the Doodle Apes project. Here's what he had to say:

‍“There is a serial scammer "Jinx" that uses mint revenue to start new projects while abandoning his old projects. There is a prospective founder looking to take ownership either through contract address transfer or migration, depending on if Jinx cooperates or not. There is one member of the community focused on creating a document for all the evidence linking the scammer to multiple projects.”‍

According to Green_Regime, the person who goes by the name “Jinx” was the founder of Crazy Chipmunks BSC and later started with the  Doodle Apes BSC after abandoning the previous project.  To the surprise of some, Jinx has also discontinued the recent project Doodle Apes. 

‍“There is a lot that is happening now, as Jinx has not communicated with the team and community for 24 days,” GR told BSC News. “We have had to pressure him with personal data connecting him to multiple scams to get the funds that the contract designated for the team and community”‍

Although Jinx technically paid the team and community for Doodle Apes, he failed to keep the roadmap promises he made. Additionally, he has not repaid his previous community for the funds collected through Crazy Chipmunks. 

‍“The main issue Doodle Apes had with Jinx was how he made promises and then kept abandoning the project for longer periods of time until he never came back,” Green_Regime shares with BSC News. “The lack of communication stalled the entire project and he left the team to deal with all the lies he told the community.”‍

Green_Regime reported that Doodle Apes has a new investor to take over the community and migrate the NFTs to a new contract address. We reached out to the new investor, Bazabizo, and discussed the plans ahead for Doodle Apes after the rug pull.

A Plan to Revive the NFT Project

The previous owner failed to deliver on the roadmap and abandoned the project over time, as Bazabizo stated. The new owner says he is now trying to save the project with a new road map, moving to a new contract, and giving people a 3D version for free. 

‍“It’s a fantastic chance for anyone to buy doodle apes today as they will get their 3D version for free! And that’s where the fun starts.” Bazabizo told BSC News. “My main goal here is to save the community. These are people who spent money and got nothing.”‍

There is a new roadmap in place that is as follows: 

1. The project will get a new name - “Apes Mania”. ApesMania.com will be bought as a new domain name, and a new website will be built on it.  The team planned to conclude it on June 15, 2022. 
2. A new contract will be created with the exact metadata for the collection. As a result, all the attributes related to the NFT will remain the same. 
3. The team will redesign the entire NFT collection into a 3D NFT Apes Mania collection. These will be all of free charge for users. The new collection will be 6,000 as beforel and is expected to conclude in Q3. 

“We will be revamping the whole project and moving to 3D within a couple of weeks. We will have a rewarding utility scheme that will encourage users to buy and hold their apes. Users will also take a share of the profit from all sales”. Bazabizo tells BSC News. “This was promised before then it was discontinued. We will add another collection at some stage with surprising breeding options. Our floor has increased by 100% in the past 4 days on this news. We are just getting started!”‍

Bazabizo further noted that It would cost him 100 BNB to revive the project. It will be one of the most stunning comebacks in the history of BNB Chain NFT if the project turns around from this situation and things go according to the roadmap. BSC news sincerely hopes that the process goes smoothly and that the community members who were affected earlier receive their compensation. 

The NFT craze will only continue to grow in the coming days. BSC news advises you to thoroughly review the transaction history of the NFT you wish to purchase. In addition, it would be wise to find out the contact details of the creator and research them. Additionally, you should never give out your wallet keys and ignore any suspicious emails or phone calls. 

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What is Doodle Apes:

Doodle Apes is a collection of 6,000 randomly generated hand-drawn Doodle Apes on the Binance Smart Chain. However, according to a new plan for the project, the collection is to be converted into a 3D version within the next few months. 

Where to find Doodle Apes‍

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