Cryptocurrency risk management firm Elliptic has released a report indicating that scammers stole more than $100 million worth of nonfungible tokens starting in 2021.
In its NFTs and Financial Crime report released, Elliptic said crypto users had been the victims of roughly $100.6 million worth of scams related to NFTs in the 13-month period from July 2021 to July 2022. The firm reported that although the market downturn had caused the value of NFTs to slump, scammers stole the most tokens in July 2022 estimated to be 4,647 assets.
According to Elliptic, the most valuable NFT theft the firm was a CryptoPunk valued at $490,000 at the time it was stolen in November 2021. In December 2021, scammers were able to steal “16 blue chip NFTs worth $2.1 million” from a single victim in the crypto space.
The report stated that individuals had laundered more than $8 million in illicit funds through NFT platforms since 2017, while more than $328 million went through cryptocurrency mixers including Tornado Cash, sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control in August. The controversial mixer reportedly processed $137.6 million worth of crypto from NFT platforms and was “the laundering tool of choice” for the majority of scams.
