The market is new, and scammers have taken advantage of users' lack of knowledge. The best way to protect yourself in this situation is to ensure that you have a basic understanding of how to check the authenticity of an NFT and understand exactly what you' re buying. So, we must learn how to know if NFT is legit.
Because of the meteoric rise in popularity of NFTs and the metaverse in 2020 and 2021, the market has become appealing to scammers who prey on unsuspecting victims through fraud and plagiarism. Blockchain and NFT technology can be difficult to understand for many new investors. Factors combine to form the perfect storm for fraudsters to prey on inexperienced NFT investors.
Creating NFTs also has a low barrier to entry. This is great for creatives, artists, and NFT visionaries, but it also means that bad actors can quickly and cheaply produce fake NFTs. But it's not all doom and gloom. The suggestions below will help You on how to know if NFT is legit.
How To Know If NFT Is Legit?
If you believe you are buying an NFT directly from the artist, double-check their website and social media links to confirm the location of the sale. Check that you're looking at an official account, not one set up by an imposter.
It is not uncommon for scammers to duplicate entire websites. So, while the NFT website appears to be legitimate, you may be using the incorrect URL. A fake website will typically have missing details, low-quality text, and other visible signs of fabrication if you look closely enough.
Along with the seller's wallet and the NFT's on-chain data, the contract address is an important piece of information to verify. You should be able to obtain the exact contract address of the collection from a reliable source.
If you're buying an NFT from a particularly popular series, there's a good chance it's been traded before. Examine the NFT on a blockchain explorer or NFT marketplace aggregator to confirm this. If the NFT has never been sold before, it is worth looking into further.
If the price appears to be too good to be true, it most likely is. You can compare the floor price of the entire series to the asking price of the NFT of interest. For example, if you find a CryptoPunk for sale for $5,000, it's highly unlikely to be genuine. As previously stated, even if the price appears to be legitimate, you should double-check to ensure it hasn't been manipulated by a small number of wallets.
While you may believe you are purchasing an original piece of NFT art, this is not always the case. You can find other instances of the NFT's image online by reverse-searching it. Some of these may be genuine, but it is possible that another artist created the image and did not license it for an NFT. You could also have a duplicate of an NFT rather than the original you're looking for.
Summary
The tips above on how to know if NFT is legit are a great place to start and should help you determine whether you're buying something genuine in most cases. Keep in mind that all blockchain transactions are final.
