A Discord link error connected to Ozzy Osbourne’s NFT offering allowed scammers to take thousands of dollars from fans.
Long-time admirer of crypto and NFTs, Osbourne joined in the buzz with his own CryptoBatz NFT release this month, according to mxdwn. “I’ve been trying to get in on the NFT action for a while, so when I asked Sharon for a Bored Ape for Christmas after several failed attempts of buying my own, and she said no, I decided to create my own,” Osbourne says according to Loudwire. “CryptoBatz is a fucking mental project for NFT collectors and fans. The design pays tribute to one of my most iconic onstage moments and is a chance to acquire a rare piece of art history. I love it!”
Initially, Osbourne promoted the project via the official CryptoBatz Discord link. The link was later discarded and replaced with a new official link, however, the old link was never permanently removed from Osbourne’s previous social media posts. Scammers took advantage of the abandoned link and enticed fans to connect their wallets to it.
One victim of the scam, Tim Silman, estimates around $300 to $400 was lost in Ethereum (ETH) but believes others could have lost even more. Etherscan shows the ETH wallet address linked to the scammers received transactions totaling 14.6 ETH ($40,896 USD) on January 20.
Loudwire says Sutter Systems, the developers of the CryptoBatz NFT, attribute the scam to Discord’s lack of a support/fraud prevention team— “a platform we (Sutter Systems) have absolutely no control over.” Discord says they are aware of the matter and in contact with the affected teams involved.