Over $765,000 worth of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have reportedly been stolen in a SIM swap attack targeting the Gutter Cat Gang NFT project.
The breach came to light around 8:00 pm UTC on July 7 when members of the NFT community noticed suspicious activity.
Gutter Mitch, co-founder of Gutter Cat Gang, issued a warning on Twitter, alerting users that their account had been compromised and urging them not to interact with any links.
READ MORE: Vitalik Buterin Fires Warning About Bitcoin’s Future
In addition to the official Gutter Cat Gang account, co-founder Gutter Ric also fell victim to the hackers.
The attackers exploited the compromised accounts to distribute links to fake limited edition Gutter Cat Gang NFT sneaker airdrops.
When users clicked on these links, their hot wallets were drained of funds.
To lend credibility to their scheme, the hackers incorporated recent Gutter Cat Gang branding and images from the project’s phygital sneaker drop, which featured a collaboration with Puma and NBA/Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball.
Prominent blockchain investigator ZachXBT, responding to Gutter Mitch’s tweet, suggested that the team had fallen prey to a SIM swap attack, raising questions about their cybersecurity practices.
He emphasized the need for a compensation plan for the victims, considering the negligence of using SMS 2FA given the recent surge in SIM swap attacks.
ZachXBT also highlighted two victims of the attack, one losing a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT valued at $65,913 and another losing a staggering $700,000 worth of NFTs from various renowned collections.
Gutter Dan, another co-founder of Gutter Cat Gang, provided an update, stating that they were working with Twitter to regain control of the compromised accounts.
He expressed deep sympathy for those affected and assured the community that they were treating the matter seriously, collaborating with law enforcement to investigate the hack and security breach.
As of now, the compromised accounts remain under the control of the attackers.
Gutter Cat Gang, launched in mid-2021, consists of 3,000 unique NFT cartoon cat avatars.
The current floor price for these NFTs is 0.5 Ether (ETH), equivalent to approximately $1,858, representing a substantial increase of nearly 615% from the initial minting cost, according to NFT Price Floor.
