Porsche NFT Hits Pit Stop, Fake NFT Sale On With Malvertising and Fraud Domains

   January 26, 2023  Posted in DarkReading


Porsche’s starting troubles with their first non-fungible token (NFT) collection might have prompted the company to halt its sale, but cybercriminals are already hit the track, selling fake NFTs via Google malvertising! 

The German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars has had little success in launching its NFT from the official domain nft.porsche.com after receiving flak from its community.  

According to the latest update at the time of publishing the report, @porsch_eth, which calls itself “a community of virtual 911 owners coming together to co-create the future of Porsche in Web3”, were offering NFTs virtually free! 

“Our holders have spoken. we’re excited to announce that we’ve reduced the Porsche NFT Mint Price to FREE MINT,” the tweet said, imitating the original post by the company’s handle @eth_porsche 

(The Tweet was later suspended)

“Our holders have spoken. We’re going to cut our supply and stop the mint to move forward with creating the best experience for an exclusive community. More info in the next hours.” 

Porsche NFT and dull run 

Meanwhile, cybersecurity researchers are calling out to fake Porsche NFT domains, such as porschenft.net, which have been successful in duping many into buying fake NFTs. The domain porschenft.net was inactive at the time of publishing the report. 

 

The company’s official announcement of a halt on NFTs was heavily criticised by the Twitterati as a ploy for creating demand.

 

 

The Porsche NFT collection featured digital replicas of the company’s popular 911 model. However, it was met with criticism from creators and collectors for its high price and for Porsche’s lack of consideration for the overall state of the NFT market.  

The collection had been available for global purchase since 23 January. But the domain could sell only 1,818 out in a day of 7,500 tokens minted. Additionally, NFTs from the collection were being sold for less than their original price on secondary marketplaces.  

“Within the first hours of the sale, only 16% of the collection was minted on Porsche’s official website,” Investing.com reported on January 24.  

“Secondary market sales appeared relatively idle, as the floor price dropped to 0.89 ETH, worth approximately $1446.61 at press time. NFTs were sold on secondary marketplaces for less than the initial price of 0.911 while the mint was still ongoing.” 

Porsche NFT and the threat of fakes 

Attempts to sell fake non-fungible tokens (NFTs) using the Porsche brand were on much before this official NFT sale. The company in November 2022 warned customers and followers about fake non-fungible tokens (NFTs) being advertised online using the Porsche brand.  

The NFT market has seen significant growth in recent years, with $17 billion in sales in 2021, an increase of 21,000% from the previous year. 

Porsche has previously explored the use of NFTs in their products and promotions, such as with the launch of the 911 GT3 RS “Tribute to Carrera RS Package” in the United States, which included special graphics, a theme car cover and watch, and NFTs.  

Additionally, Porsche Deutschland and Porsche Australia have also released NFTs for charity in the past.  

Porsche also warned about the common scam in the NFT market known as a “Rug-Pull” where dishonest developers overhype an NFT to attract investors, only to shut down the project and take the investors’ money. 

Curiously, if Tweets are any indicators, what appeared to be the company’s move to raise the demand by announcing to shut down sale is gaining a similar image. 





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