The owner of a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) says he managed to avoid a “potentially terrible day” after he was asked to retrieve a banana for a photograph by someone he initially believed was interviewing him for Forbes.
On November 27, non-fungible token (NFT) collector “Crumz” detailed his encounter with a scammer posing as a Forbes journalist.
He reported that someone posing as Robert LaFanco, a real Forbes editor, contacted him via direct message from an impersonator account with the offer of an interview for a new article on BAYC.
SCAM ALERT!!
I just spent the last 2 hours on Zoom with '@Forbes'It was quite sophisticated and well thought out because I'm normally on high alert but luckily I didn't get caught. This is what they did. 1/8-Crumz (@crumz10) November 26, 2023
During the interview, the scammer asked Crumz to click a button to allow access and record the interview. Crumz said he complied with so-called journalists despite certain red flags, including using a non-premium Zoom account and wanting to use a separate recording robot to record his screen.
“I had to press a button to allow access to the recording,” he said before adding: “I didn't think much of it at first, but at the end, he asks me to say something that sounds like my ape, and he suggests a banana. "
Crumz said he later realized this was a distraction attempt to get him away from his computer during which the attacker would take control of his computer to steal his assets.
Crumz said that instead of getting the banana, he waited by his computer and sure enough, the scammers began monitoring his screen.
"I mute my screen and there's no video and I just waited by the screen and sure enough they started monitoring my screen, I stopped them when they went into delegate.cash."
8/8
I hope I'm safe now. I don't think they can still control my computer when I turn it back on.
Please stay safe, today could have been a terrible day.-Crumz (@crumz10) November 26, 2023
Crypto Casino Rollbit partner borowik.eth echoed the warning to its 140,000 X (formerly Twitter) followers on November 27.
He also pointed out a spurious account named Robert LaFranco, whose profile claims he is a deputy editor at Forbes. "During this interview, he is trying to trick you into gaining access to your PC and stealing your expensive NFTs," he warned.
⚠️ BE CAREFUL ⚠️
Fake Forbes Journalist Approaches BAYC Headlines for Fake Interview
During this interview, he tries to trick you into gaining access to your PC and stealing your expensive NFTs.
It is highly unlikely that Forbes will come close pic.twitter.com/ViYrT0mk1l
- borovik.eth (@3orovik) November 27, 2023
Meanwhile, BAYC community member Laura Rod also reported being contacted by the fake Forbes editor.
Related: Nansen Phishing Emails Flood Cryptocurrency Investors' Inboxes
In early November, blockchain security firm Slowmist detailed a series of scams in which victims lost crypto assets to fake journalists.
He reported that, after scheduling an interview, the attacker would guide victims to join the interview on Telegram, providing an outline of the interview, conducting a two-hour interview, and then providing the malicious link to consent to the publication .
In October, a Friend.tech user reported being cheated by a fake Bloomberg journalist, who tricked them into clicking a link for a "consent form", resulting in an empty Friend.tech account.
Meanwhile, several industry observers have noted That scammers on X usually have a BAYC profile photo, which is something to keep in mind.
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