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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office has investigated a cryptocurrency scam targeting artists across the country after an 85-year-old painter lost $135,000 of his life savings to a fake NFT art marketplace, officials say. announced.
The victim, a Clinton Hill resident, was lured into the scheme by an online scammer posing as an art dealer on LinkedIn. Scammers convinced people to sell their artwork as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on fraudulent sites that mimicked legitimate NFT markets. Victims were promised $300,000 in Bitcoin proceeds and then told to pay escalating fees to access the funds. Overwhelmed by promises of refunds, he liquidated his IRA account, used credit cards, and took out loans to pay the scammers.
“This scam exploited the creativity and trust of artists, leaving them emotionally and financially devastated,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, whose crypto division led the investigation.
Investigators traced the stolen virtual currency to an account linked to Nigeria and discovered that the funds were quickly converted into local currency. Although the stolen money could not be recovered, the investigation uncovered a network of 40 fraudulent NFT art marketplace websites targeting artists, many masquerading as legitimate platforms.
The seized domains will be redirected to a page containing warnings about NFT scams and advice on how to avoid falling victim to similar schemes. Some tips include checking the authenticity of art dealers, using reputable NFT marketplaces, never sharing your cryptocurrency wallet's seed phrase, and being wary of upfront fees.
