Beware of the infamous Airdrop Scams or anything requesting your Private Key. Learn how to avoid getting scammed from a real-life scenario.
The crypto world as new and exciting as it is also has a dark side that needs to be discussed more often. Unfortunately, there are scammers that prey on a massive group of people via many deceptive practices. In my case, I fell victim to an airdrop scam link promising to offer coins based on setting an account with them. The website was very professionally created and I only did a brief google search on it before I foolishly provided my PRIVATE KEY.
Yes, it is labeled “private key” for a reason, so please keep that private. Anyways, the next day, the scammer took all my NFT’s worth over 25 ETH and started to sell them on the open market. They created stories to members on the MCP Discord channel that I have died and claimed to be my family member trying to sell off the NFT to pay for the funeral expense. How low is that…
Let’s say I was devastated, I watched as they vultured away my NFT’s at fire-sale prices to community members of the game. I was offered to purchase the NFT’s back at the fire-sale prices from community members that found out after realizing they purchased such great deals, but that would mean that the scammer won. I could not allow that gratification.
The community and the developers were trying to see what they could do for me, as these scenarios are uncommon and having a solution is not easy. After a year, finally, I was able to see a positive light. The game developers of MCP provided me with a solution that would make me happy, however, it was not going to be on Megacryptopolis. This marks a major milestone for Decentralized App’s that take care of their own community members and truly restored my trust in the game.
My itch to be part of the MCP community was still there, however, it tortured me as I stood watching cool updates upon updates of gameplay. Then, on Christmas of 2021, a kind samaritan that goes by the name @BabaYetuNFT from the MCP community offered to give back my stolen Level 7 Residential building to me as a surprise Christmas present.
I was overwhelmed with joy as I never expected a stranger that I have never seen or spoken to, to provide me something that is worth about 2.5 ETH (current market rate ~$10,000).
Watch the full video (here)
Here is what he had to say…
Baba Yetu:
“We literally spend all day clicking on things and you shouldn’t be penalized for trusting, it should always be one of those systems where we trust first, unfortunately in this world you don’t know the stove is hot until you touch it and burn your finger. In the real world we’re taught all these things from the moment we’re born what’s right and wrong, there is no real owner’s manual, our parents aren’t teaching us how to stay safe in the metaverse, it’s on us we’re that first generation.”
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes on the world that you yourself don’t have control over. You can donate, you can send a tweet out but directly there’s so few things we can do. I stopped and thought, this is the perfect example of a place where I'm actually uniquely positioned that I can restore something for you. This is on me, so I'm more than happy to do it, it’s not like you’re a random person that nobody’s ever met or talked to, I know that you having this asset back is going to allow you to play the game and hopefully it also inspires other folks who might have acquired some assets from your thief to help out as well.”
We could only wish to hear stories like this more often, unfortunately, the good news is drowned out by negative news all the time. Baba Yetu is the name of the hero in my story and I hope that we can hear more stories like this.
If you have been a victim of a crypto-related scam, unfortunately, there isn't much assistance and support out there. Educate more people to be aware of how to spot scam posts and NEVER share your PRIVATE KEY OR PASSPHRASE.
We hope to combine forces with security experts in a community to offer aid to those that recently got scammed. If you or someone you know have the skill sets to combat scams, please reach out to us by messaging in the comments. If you have been a victim of fraud, let us know how by leaving a comment. Together we are strong.