Fake Banksy NFT Sold For $338K In ETH, Scammer Returns The Funds

A fake Banksy NFT was sold for $338K in Ethereum as the scammer promoted the art on the official website and auctioned it on OpenSea. However, it seems that the scammer returned all the funds so let’s read more in our latest Ethereum news today.

The fake NFT appeared mysteriously on the official website of Bansky with a link to an OpenSea auction selling for $338,000. Banksy’s official site was either hacked or someone from the inside did something according to analyst Tom Robinson. However, the scammer returned most of the funds. Earlier this morning, the official website of the artist promoted the sale of the NFT artwork which was auctioned for 100 ETH worth $338,000 at the time. The CryptoPunk-inspired artwork “Great Redistribution of the Climate change Disaster” isn’t by Banksy as per the artists’ authentication body Pest Control.

So my bid of 100 ETH was accepted for the potential #Banksy first #NFT on @opensea.

The link was removed from his website so it could have been a very elaborate hoax, my guess is that is what it will be, only time will tell!https://t.co/EEmElqIvBZ pic.twitter.com/Pbs5zrht05

— Pranksy (@pranksy) August 31, 2021

NFT investor Pransky explained that it all happened fast as he purchased the fake Banksy NFT. The user called yosefo contracted Pransky on Discord to tip him off about the auction. Yosefo shares a link to the official website of Bansky which contained the artwork and itself linked to a live auction on the OpenSea marketplace. Pranksy placed a bid of 100 ETH which ended the auction and he said:

 “My first misgiving was when the offer was accepted [so quickly].”

An hour and a half after the auction ended, the NFT promotion on the Banksy site was taken down which made him even more suspicious that it was a scam. However later, the scammer returned the ETH to Pransky more than eight hours later:

“No idea why [he returned the funds],” Pranksy told Decrypt. “I think I tracked him down, and he was made aware.”

An NFT is a type of crypto asset that works as a receipt of ownership over digital items like videos, music files, or images and while NFT scams are common, the elaborate NFT hoax of the scale is not. Tom Robinson the co-founder of Elliptic said:

“The infrastructure hosting the website could have been hacked, or it could have been an inside job.”

Banksy never tokenized his art but a group of blockchain investors in March and traders bought the destroyed artwork “Morons” for $95,000 after its authenticity was verified by Pest Control. The artists under the username Pest supply sold NFTs created in Banky’s signature graffiti-style for 447 ETH on NFT marketplaces OpenSea and Rarible. Most of the users speculated Pest Supply could be Banksy himself since the art style is identical and the titles of his work like username Pest Control make references to Banksy.