The metaverse, the new digital frontier where users can attend virtual concerts or purchase digital assets like land, has been hit with fraud. Cybercriminals use phishing links that imitate the legitimate metaverse platforms to drain investors’ digital wallets of assets. While metaverse platforms are increasing their security measures and educating consumers about fraud prevention, they say they’re not responsible for refunding money to phishing scam victims.
Many investors flock to the metaverse because it operates in a decentralized manner, meaning there is no central authority, such as a bank, providing oversight of the transactions. That’s because the buying and selling of metaverse property all occurs on the blockchain, which is a transparent ledger showing all transactions that take place. But once these transactions occur, they can’t be changed.
Due to the permanent nature of blockchain transactions, local, state and federal authorities have limited ability to protect these retail investors.
Adam Lowe, creator of the cold storage wallet Arculus, recommends investors use multifactor authentication as an added measure of protection.
“If your only line of security is a username and password, you’re doing it wrong,” he said.
As the metaverse has become more popular, platforms are having trouble fielding phishing and hacking complaints, with most saying that once an asset is stolen, it cannot be retrieved due to the decentralized nature of the blockchain.
“All of these platforms have just exploded in growth and popularity, and I’m sure they’re having trouble keeping up with employing enough people to answer questions,” Lowe said.
Read the full article: Cybercriminals target metaverse investors with phishing scams
