Brooklyn District Attorney shuts down 40 NFT scam sites

The Brooklyn District Attorney said its office shut down 40 fraudulent NFT market sites after an 85-year-old artist was defrauded of $135,000 by scammers. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said recently that a person posing as an art dealer contacted the victim on LinkedIn and convinced him to mint his art on a fake NFT market similar to New York's OpenSea. Later, he was told that he had made $300,000, but in order to get the money, he had to pay $135,000 in "fees", which came from his completely liquidated retirement accounts, credit card payments and loans. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said the victim soon realized that he would not get the promised $300,000, which left him "emotionally and financially devastated." District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the tactics used in this case led investigators to "discover a network of fraudulent websites dedicated to defrauding artists." Two other artists from Georgia and California were also caught in the same NFT scam scheme. (Cointelegraph)