World of Solana hacker gets scammed in community sting

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The World of Solana (WoS) Twitter account reported details of a community sting operation resulting in a hacker getting scammed.

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We’re very excited to share a crazy World of Solana community story:

We have successfully scammed the hacker of @UnchainedNFT_ !

Shoutout to our community, @CyberFrogsNFT and a sniper! ❤️💯#Solana #SolanaNFTs #NFTCommunity

Full Story 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/4SeG0YDNW4

— World Of Solana 💃 {WOSup} (@worldofsolana) May 25, 2022

What’s particularly satisfying, in this case, is how the hacker got scammed.

How did the hacker get scammed?

The story began following a hack of the Unchained NFT’s Discord channel on Monday.

Unchained NFT is a cross-chain gaming development studio that aims to develop “back-end compatibility between the NFT projects and chains we represent.”

“The ultimate aim of Unchained NFT is to build a melting pot of crypto culture and chains where communities from every chain can come together and thrive. It’s a revolutionary gaming and metaverse journey.”

The hacker drained the wallets of 109 users, resulting in a total loss of 150 SOL ($6,700) and the theft of 25 WoS NFTs. Within those WOS NFTs lost were several of the top 100.

In response, community members @QuantMaven, @AngelaTNFT, and @cryptosile, together with dev @CyberFrogsNFT, hatched a plan to get the NFTs back.

To bait the hacker into breaking cover, the team “set royalties to 98%,” while asking the community to keep watch on Solana’s primary NFT marketplace, Magic Eden.

Royalties refer to a percentage cut of the sale price each time the NFT is sold on a marketplace. The default royalty on WoS NFTs is 5%.

Two days after springing the trap, the hacker listed the stolen NFTs on Magic Eden, resulting in 15 being bought by the community and the remainder “took” by a “sniper.”

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Two days later, around 2am EST, the hacker listed the 25 WOS NFTs on @MagicEden.@WorldofSolana community managed to buy 15 and a sniper took the other 10.

We sent a @FamousFoxFed DING to the sniper and he gladly accepted to cooperate. 💌 pic.twitter.com/3TCRnnZ4qQ

— World Of Solana 💃 {WOSup} (@worldofsolana) May 25, 2022

The message sent to the “sniper” ended in the return of the stolen NFTs to their rightful owners. The final tweet signed off by praising the community’s actions in pulling off the sting, and for a second time.

“This is the second time our community has recovered scammed NFTs.

Our community is small, but together we are very strong!”

What is the World of Solana?

The WoS is a collection of 2,222 unique Solana blockchain heroines fighting for freedom in a fictional war between rival blockchains and the government.

“A war is taking place, between rival blockchains and the government. Only through unity can the blockchains defeat their common enemy.”

Each is based on a combination of 18 distinct traits, including background, aura, hairstyle, body, etc. The most expensive WoS NFT is #1874, listed at 123 SOL ($5,600).

The collection has a current price floor of 2.03 SOL ($92), this represents a 41% drop from its peak floor price of 3.46, achieved on April 12.