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The Almighty Buck

Fake Banksy NFT Sold Through Artist's Website For $336,000 (bbc.com) 39

Posted by BeauHD from the too-good-to-be-true dept.
A hacker has returned $336,000 to a British collector after he tricked him into buying a fake NFT advertised through the artist's official website. The BBC reports: A link to an online auction for the NFT was posted on a now-deleted page of banksy.co.uk. The auction ended early after the man offered 90% more than rival bidders. The Banksy fan who got duped says he thought he was buying the world-famous graffiti artist's first ever NFT. The man who is in his 30s and wanted to remain anonymous explained over Twitter direct messages that he suspects Banksy's site was hacked, and that he was the victim of an elaborate scam. He says the hacker returned all the money except for the transaction fee of around 5,000 pounds on Monday evening.

"It does seem to be some hack of the site. I confirmed the URL on PC and mobile before bidding. I only made the bid because it was hosted on his site. When the bid was accepted I immediately thought it was probably fake," he said. Banksy's team did not respond to questions about how his site was compromised but said: "The artist Banksy has not created any NFT artworks." The buyer suspects the person who alerted him and others to the Banksy NFT sale may have been the hacker themselves.
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Fake Banksy NFT Sold Through Artist's Website For $336,000 More

Fake Banksy NFT Sold Through Artist's Website For $336,000

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  • same as real thing (Score:3)

    by KiloByte ( 825081 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @07:54PM (#61750341)

    But, how exactly is one NFT consisting of an URL different from another NFT with the same contents?

    And besides, what's a NFT worth if you're not on whatever money laundering scheme that NFT is for?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xenx ( 2211586 )
      I don't care about NFTs, but I'm also not against the concept. Like any collectible, it's up to the collector decide if it's for them.

      And besides, what's a NFT worth if you're not on whatever money laundering scheme that NFT is for?

      Why is a limited numbered run of something worth more than the rest of the run? Because some people say they are. Nothing special about it. They're worth what people think they're worth.

      But, how exactly is one NFT consisting of an URL different from another NFT with the same contents?

      My understanding is that the NFT itself is more or less the certificate of authenticity/ownership. The difference would be the same as with the limited run example. Why is 1 out of 10 worth mo

      • Why is a limited numbered run of something worth more than the rest of the run?

        That sentence contradicts itself. An N numbered run has N copies with probably an AP leading. There is no "rest of the run".

        Some people want low numbered copies of a run. Especially true of prints as the difference between #1 and #500 is visible.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Xenx ( 2211586 )
          There are times where the first X number of said thing are numbered, and the rest don't get numbered.
          • True, but those unnumbered things are lower quality copies of the original print run.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Xenx ( 2211586 )
              That is not always the case for everything. I have literally seen seen it a few times years ago. I don't have the memory to provide what. But there was literally no difference, it was 100% purely about being able to say you got one of the first produced. I don't normally follow those kind of things, so I couldn't say how frequent it is in general. And, I'm not just talking about art prints or anything.

    • But, how exactly is one NFT consisting of an URL different from another NFT with the same contents?

      It is not. You get bragging rights on your specially branded URL though!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by clambake ( 37702 )

      SHHH! You're giving the secret away.

  • Banksy sure does weird things like auction off a print only to have it shred to ribbons.

    • Re:LOL! (Score:5, Interesting)

      by BeerFartMoron ( 624900 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @08:11PM (#61750375)

      LOL indeed. A fake Banksy NFT sold through a hacked webpage on his official site is the most Banksy thing ever. The buyer needs to hold on to this one; it's essential priceless.

      Banksy should send the buyer a postcard confirming that the buyer holds the one true fake.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ac22 ( 7754550 )

        You may be onto something. An "NFT" with a connection to Banksy that has made international news headlines ... in the crazy world of NFT valuations, that's probably a couple of hundred thousand dollars right there.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by edis ( 266347 )

          It's first faked NFT of Banksy - ultimate value, that could have been resold for much more, than $336.000.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Cederic ( 9623 )

            Given he eventually only paid $5k for it, it's basically a bargain.

            Shit, it's worth him paying another $5k to Banksy for a 'confirmed fake' certificate.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by edis ( 266347 )

              Or stay half expense, given the statement of "no NFTs by Banksy". Lucky guy has it all.

      • The webpage wasn't hacked. It was just an advertisement that was micro-targeted. And of course, the idiot that bought it didn't have an ad-blocker.

      • Or Bansky could embrace the art as an "honorary original". I mean, the fake NFT is most likely better than anything Bansky can come up with himself. Banky's art has the defining characteristic of being lacking in innovation and relying heavily on hackneyed political messages but at the same time appearing as innovative and brave to dumb people with an "everything sucks" view of the world. Bansky should retroactively recognize the fake as original and hire the guy who made it to make him more.
        • I mean, Bansky's art is fading in the public consciousness (now that the novelty of the "everything sucks" genre is wearing off because others are doing it too), so he could always use some new ideas.

    • Only the shredder conveniently stopped halfway and the end result was worth more than what it was purchased for.

      Banksy is just a commercial artist

  • What's the real crime here? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by GameboyRMH ( 1153867 ) <gameboyrmh.gmail@com> on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @08:13PM (#61750383) Journal

    A dumb asshat spent more than most hard-working people would make in a decade (no doubt earned on other people's backs) on some worthless computer bits (that's one way you can tell - no sane person who might've spent a decade saving up for it at an honest job would've spent it this way), that seems much worse than a little website defacement to me.

  • With all the news articles covering this story, it must have skyrocketed in value! It's probably worth double the cost price now. Good investment.

  • Feel bad for the guy (Score:5, Funny)

    by leathered ( 780018 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @08:18PM (#61750401)

    It's not everyday you go to buy nothing, but later realise the nothing you bought was fake.

  • Whew! (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday August 31, 2021 @08:37PM (#61750451)

    For a moment there, I thought my Wanksy NFT might be a fake.

  • Banksy's website (banksy.co.uk) is currently only served over http. Is this some sort of artistic statement? The world may never know....

  • Reverse the contract? Are you nuts? You are currently holding the most valuable and rarest NFT in existence. The only Banksy nft in existance today, and probably EVER, that is a fake, but being sold by the legitimate webpage.

    It doesn't get rarer than that! And isn't that after all what this all is about? Who cares who made it?

  • NFT is a ghost non-existal and people buy it. I have a beany baby holding a tulip for sale $1,000,000.

  • A fake Banksy NFC is probably worth money as a form of art in itself. Look! I got the first take Banksy NFC! That's a collector.

    Also, knowing Banksy and the stupid world of "modern" art, I bet he sold the fake NFC itself, and the fake sale was the piece of art.

  • I always thought the Banksy official site was pestcontroloffice.com [pestcontroloffice.com]. Which, appears to be down as of writing.
  • When traders invest in baseball cards, comic books and crap like NFTs its usually a sign that we are be are being setup for a market crash.

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