A new survey from PrivacyHQ reveals 90% or nine out of 10 respondents experienced an NFT scam. This level of uncertainty is cause for concern for a relatively new marketplace that is generating billions of dollars.
Only 1 in 10 NFT Owners Have Never Experienced a Scam
The PrivacyHQ survey spoke to 1,008 people in the U.S. who are actively investing in and own NFTs. And according to the report, there are some horror stories and great lessons to be learned. The key takeaways from the survey are:
- Less than half of NFT owners feel their NFTs are secure
- Two out of 3 respondents said they had panic-sold NFTs in the past
- Nine out of 10 respondents had experienced an NFT scam
- Half of the respondents had lost access to their NFTs at some point
When it comes to NFT scams there were multiple ways in which buyers were scammed. Topping the list of the most common scams experienced by these respondents starts out with the NFT provider shutting down or changing their URL at 44.8%. Next is investing in an NFT project that disappeared at 43.8% followed by buying an NFT from a fake marketplace at 43.4% to round off the top three.
Some of the other scams are fake NFT giveaways, following a fake NFT influencer account, and the node storing the file was disconnected from the network.
Keeping Your NFTs Safe
Regarding the safety of their NFTs, 47.8% said they felt very safe. However, less than half, or 37.6% said they felt moderately secure about the safety, with 14.6% adding they didn’t feel secure at all. So, what safety measures are they taking to protect their NFTs?
Complex password/passphrases and 2-step authentication were the top two measures at 67.3% and 65.2% respectively. Other steps NFT owners were taking include keeping their recovery phrase in a secure place (55.3%), NFT backup (47.1%), and secure internet connection (38.8%).
Can you Recoup Loses?
According to this report close to half or 48.9% of the respondents said they were able to recoup all their NFT losses. These recoveries are probably from legitimate NFT creators that had some sort of technical glitch and made sure their customers got their money or NFT back.
On the other hand, another 43% said they recovered some of their loss while 8.1% said they didn’t recover any of their losses.
There are some very popular NFT collections that are worth tens of millions of dollars. And if you got in early, and you bought one of these NFTs, you are probably a millionaire. The key to ensuring the purchase of an NFT is to follow strict safety protocols. And if you don’t have the expertise in security matters, find someone that does.
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