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Automaker Porsche has stopped minting a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital art with an assigned “owner” in its metadata, after just two days following a lack of interest and backlash from crypto enthusiasts, but threat actors are picking up on the limp.
Reports of Beeping computer (opens in new tab) claiming there were delays in issuing the first NFTs on January 23, including a replica of the Porsche 911 priced at 0.911 Etherium (ETH). At the time of writing, this is about $1,500.
The delay angered “the community” enough, but it also caused a second-hand market to emerge on the NFT marketplace OpenSea, where the NFTs were immediately devalued, leaving anyone who for some reason still sees NFTs as stable and saw valuable investments, got upset.
Scammers are flocking to an NFT craze
While any kind of community project can have noble intentions, in Porsche’s case it was the commitment to this feedback loop that has now created additional problems for the company’s NFT project, and no doubt for the Porsche brand in general.
With the NFTs becoming scarcer after the coin’s discontinuation, Porsche itself has warned (opens in new tab) of fraudulent phishing sites, claiming to offer the NFT collection, is shared via direct messages on Twitter.
At worst, BleepingComputer found a (as of January 30, now defunct) Twitter account with more than 11,000 followers posing as Porsche and recreating the website as part of a phishing campaign.
The genuine site states that the coin is closed and redirects users to OpenSea. However, the fake one allowed users to use their cryptocurrency walletsto which the site would attempt to embezzle their funds.
Users can rest easy knowing that one phishing site is no longer functioning, but more are likely to emerge in their wake, and it is unknown when the controversy will subside
As a result, given Porsche’s official post is that it has no further NFT coins in the pipeline, enthusiasts are advised to steer clear of any unconfirmed claims related to Porsche’s Web3 activity.