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With the recent explosion in popularity of Reddit avatar NFT collections, new scams have surfaced to take advantage of the hype.
Some scams include fake NFT airdrops and fake websites that ask for your wallet seed phrase.
Two popular Reddit NFT scams
In the first type of scam, you’re informed that someone has airdropped you a new NFT. When you arrive at the collection website, the collection seems legitimate because it has a team, trading volume, and a reasonable floor price. After you list the NFT for sale, the scammers drain your wallet.
One of the ways to avoid this type of scam is to only interact with NFT collections you know and trust. You can also transfer your NFTs into cold wallets for offline storage.
Another scam targets Reddit users asking questions about how to list their Reddit NFTs on OpenSea and store them in wallets. When Reddit users post questions on the Polygon subreddit, scammers often direct them to a website to connect “all” their crypto wallets. The criminals then ask users for their crypto wallet seed phrase. If a user loses their private key, the seed phrase is a sequence of words that they can use to recreate the private key. The private key gives a user complete control and ownership over the funds in their crypto wallet. People use private keys to create digital signatures that prove ownership of spendable crypto assets in a transaction. If a scammer has someone’s seed phrase, they could take full ownership of that person’s digital assets.
How to get your Reddit NFT listed on OpenSea
Still, honest people are willing to help get an NFT listed on OpenSea. One user has created a list of steps to do this, which is summarized below. Note that you must hold MATIC in your wallet to sell your NFT.
Firstly, click on your Reddit profile picture on the Reddit mobile app and click on “Vault.” Secondly, click on the three dots next to “Vault,” then click to show the recovery phrase. Thirdly, record the recovery phrase digitally or physically. Fourthly, download the Metamask app from your operating system’s official store. After downloading the app, dismiss all the welcome screens until you are given the option to import from a secret phrase. Tap this, and paste the recovery phrase you recorded earlier, and create a password. Next, once in the Metamask account, click “Wallet” at the top of the screen. Then click the “Add Network” button, select and confirm the Polygon network.
To connect to OpenSea, tap the three lines in the upper left-hand corner of the Metamask app, then tap the browser button. Navigate to OpenSea.io. Once there, click the hamburger menu in the left corner and tap the blue button to connect your wallet. Choose Metamask and confirm your selection in the prompt that follows. Now, when you click the hamburger icon and select your profile, all your NFTs will be there. You can sell them by tapping on the desired avatar, pressing the blue sell button, and then filling out any remaining fields.
How Reddit conquered OpenSea
Reddits NFT avatars have exploded in popularity since the social media company launched its marketplace in July 2022. It all started with a Reddit report entitled the “ABCs of NFTs,” through which the company gauged user likes and dislikes. Later, Reddit hired a slew of independent artists to create digital avatars that it sold to users under the Creative Commons License for fiat. The company avoided using crypto terms throughout the process, referring to the NFTs as “digital collectibles” and wallets as “Vaults.”
So far, the social media giant has onboarded over 2.5 million wallets. Its flagship NFT collection is a profile picture NFT collection based on the website’s mascot. Reddit initially offered the NFTs for as little as 0.03 ETH, but a recent bull run has seen the prices of some NFTs rise to 30 ETH. This week, the collection topped the OpenSea leaderboard with 489 ETH in trading volume.
The most expensive Reddit NFT sold at press time is “The Hands #1,” from The Senses Collection for 30 ETH ($40,451).
This NFT has been relisted on OpenSea for 150 ETH.