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.”
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.
— PORSCHΞ (@eth_porsche) January 24, 2023
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.
Malvertising on Google is overshadowing the current overall SEO poisoning problem.
-New fake Porsche NFT placements.@Porsche @Google pic.twitter.com/kRob8zZVx9
— Dominic Alvieri (@AlvieriD) January 25, 2023
The company’s official announcement of a halt on NFTs was heavily criticised by the Twitterati as a ploy for creating demand.
Crazy sequence of events w/ @eth_porsche
– Tweet on supply cut & stopping mint
– FP swells by .3 ETH
– Everyone realizes mint is still open
– Everyone mints #NFTs & sell immediately
– FP returns to mint priceWinners?
– Porsche for selling ~160 NFTs in <1 hour
– Shrewd traders pic.twitter.com/p1Kch1OrLH— metaversatile.eth (@metaversatile_) January 24, 2023
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.”
So @Porsche decided to cut its supply from 7500 to 2363 and stop mint so now we see the floors rise from 0.911 to >1.35
Interesting move 👀
Whomever saw this article early probably swept the floor and reselling now for huge profits!
Who is buying?
Cc @punk9059 pic.twitter.com/cikVQnoNbD
— Concierge Physician (@NFTConciergeDoc) January 25, 2023
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.
We’re concerned that NFTs are being offered in our name that are inauthentic. Please stay safe online and be mindful to purchase digital Porsche products only through the official Porsche channels or its subsidiaries.
— Porsche (@Porsche) November 7, 2022
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.
