Key takeaways:
- A purported assault on the GutterCatGang NFT project resulted in the theft of NFTs valued at over $765,000.
- Co-founder Gutter Ric’s account was compromised in addition to that of the Gutter Cat Gang.
A purported SIM swap assault on the GutterCatGang NFT project resulted in the theft of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) valued at more than $765,000.
Hackers launched a sim-swap attack, causing the loss of nearly $765K in NFT assets, dealing a severe blow to the GutterCatGang community, a well-known NFT initiative. This event emphasizes the critical need for more robust security measures and the growing security issues around the crypto industry.
The goal of a sim-swap attack is to fool mobile network operators into moving a victim’s phone number to a new SIM card they control. The hackers can access the victim’s accounts, including their cryptocurrency wallets and NFT platforms, once they have control of the victim’s phone number.
On July 7, numerous members of the NFT community brought attention to the security issue, and Gutter Mitch, a co-founder of the Gutter Cat Gang, tweeted a warning:
“Our Twitter has been compromised please do not interact with any links.”
Co-founder Gutter Ric’s account was compromised in addition to that of the Gutter Cat Gang. The accounts were compromised, and the hackers exploited them to spread links to phony limited edition Gutter Cat Gang NFT shoe airdrops that, when clicked, essentially emptied people’s money.
The tweets featured the recent Gutter Cat Gang logo and images from the project’s physical sneaker drop in collaboration with Puma and NBA/Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball to give the fake connections more credibility.
ZachXBT, a well-known blockchain investigator, responded to Gutter Mitch’s thread by asserting that the team had been compromised by a SIM swap attack and questioned the team’s cybersecurity procedures. XBT Zach said:
“Your team better look at a compensation plan for victims as it is gross negligence to have used SMS 2FA on your socials after all of the recent SIM swaps,”
Two attack victims were singled out by ZachXBT in a different post. One lost a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT valued at $65,913 at current floor prices, and the other lost an incredible $700,000 worth of NFTs from various prestigious collections.
The accounts seem to be still compromised. In an update, GutterCatGang co-founder Gutter Dan stated that they were working with Twitter to re-establish access to the compromised Gutter-affiliated Twitter accounts.
To identify the offenders and locate the stolen NFTs, the project team is collaborating closely with law enforcement authorities and cybersecurity specialists.
The community places a high value on the NFTs that were taken from GutterCatGang, both in terms of their monetary value and their sentimental significance. Many GutterCatGang supporters were upset by the attack, which has led to worries about the safety of their digital assets and the vulnerability of the NFT ecosystem as a whole.
