How an NFT scammer faked a cancer charity to raise $117,000

The NFT community is reeling on May 30 from what can only be described as a punch in the gut.

After a consistent decline in NFT art sales volume over the past few months – followed by the sudden, frenzied rise of highly speculative crypto memecoins and Web3 figureheads asking their followers to send them money for no reason (and succeed) – artists and collectors alike felt particularly sour on the Web3.

So it was welcome news then known NFT influencer Andrew Wang tweeted the following to his audience of nearly 200,000 on May 30: “I woke up today to see one of my friends trending on Twitter, @hopeexist1,” Wang wrote. “She’s created a collection to help herself fight cancer, and some great Web3 folks have put the spotlight on her today, so I’d like to add something to it.”

Wang was referring to a Chinese pixel artist named Sarah. Known as hopeexist on Web3 Twitter, her work has been collected by some of the biggest names in the space, including Drift. Sarah battled tear gland cancer, a disease that affects the eyes. In February 2023, to raise money to cover her medical bills, she created a 10,000 PFP NFT collection called Pixel Penguins. With Wang and others draw attention to the collection, Pixel Penguins quickly smitten.

Within hours, $117,000 disappeared along with Sarah’s Twitter profile, with the money disappearing from the project’s contract and in new blockchain addresses. It was a back-pull scam – and one of the longest cons in Web3 history.

How hopeexist played the long game

Fraud is nothing new to Web3. Project founders are all the time pulling the rug out of their communities and bad actors are constantly finding ways to separate unsuspecting NFT aficionados from their art or crypto tokens. What makes the hopeexist scam unique is how the person behind the account, whoever they really are, established a level of communication and trust with some of the most seasoned veterans in the space before executing their plan.

For example, Wang was in contact with hopeexist for most of 2022, the scammer had bonded with him by commenting on his Twitter posts in an alleged attempt to draw attention to their art. In fact, while promoting Pixel Penguins this week, Wang explicitly drew attention to the fact that hopeexist’s collection was not a scam and that he [his] rep on the line’ at that.

But hopeexist’s cancer game is old, dating back to at least 2021, in which Web3 collectives promoted their work as a way to raise funds for their treatment. When hopeexist disappeared after the Pixel Penguins coin and it became clear that “Sarah” wasn’t who she said she was, Wang jumped on a Twitter space to handle the situation, apologize for his lack of diligence and if someone bought the project because he promoted it.

“I woke up, saw it trending, [and thought]”Okay, it’s another chance to do good.” She’s an artist I collect,” Wang said in response to questions about how much research he did on the artist.

Part of that Twitter space was devoted to a healthy discussion about how Web3 enthusiasts should do their own research, with some arguing that not many people will spend more than a few minutes looking through an artist’s social profiles and artwork before they decide whether they are legitimate or not.

Some have criticized DachshundWizard and Levi, other NFT influencers who promoted the project for not investigating hopeexist’s claims before singing the Pixel Penguins’ praises. In the wake of the carpet-pulling, critics have pointed to the fact that the artist had been cried in the past for shady behavior, after listing stolen art on their Foundation page.

This account @Hopeexist1 sells STOLEN ART on their foundation page. DO NOT BUY!

— GooeyCrunch ✊ (@GooeyCrunch) November 5, 2022

Others, even former victims of someone who abuses their goodwill, believe so being burned by scammers while trying to support a good cause is no reason to boil down to good intentions. This kind of social engineering, they say, is common, and we have to empathize with those who want to trust and believe others, especially those in difficult situations.

The municipality responds

The mood in the Web3 community has been palpably low since news of carpet pulling spread, with artists and collectors expressing annoyance at the fact that, even while explicitly trying to counter the toxicity of space, they more scams were faced and bad actors. In the same Twitter space where Wang addressed the concerns of followers, Web3 influencer and ambassador of The333Club, Dancing Eddieshared exactly this feeling.

“[The trends we’ve seen are] something that really disgusts us, so disgusting that I’d rather put money into something I believe in,’ Eddie said. “This seemed like a reasonable and well-timed thing to believe in. I think it’s absurd that we’re going to look for some reprieve from the absurdity of space and get right back into it.”

Others noted how the increasing frequency and presence of scams make it all the more difficult for Web3 evangelists promote the technology to non-crypto natives.

Is Web3 worth it?

In the wake of the carpet pull, many are wondering just how low Web3 can sink. The common refrain that emerges when the NFT community takes a hit is that there are still good people out there doing good things in the space and it’s generally worth having despite the difficulties. All clichés are boring in their self-evident truth, but that shouldn’t stop people from dwelling on the fact that it’s not all terrible; on the contrary.

For example, champion of Western art aesthetics Jeremy Booth recently put together an open edition for Emmie Sperandeo, a photographer documenting life in the western US, who suffered multiple skull fractures after being thrown from a bucking horse onto a pushpit. Priced at 0.011 ETH, 114 editions have been minted with five days left on the OE’s run. If you are one of those individuals who feel down about Web3’s plight at the hands of scammers, then this is one of many charities to contribute to.

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“For Emmie” is now available at @manifoldxyz

All proceeds go directly to supporting Emmie’s road to recovery. Link below. pic.twitter.com/RF2Ph7CPii

— jeremybooth (@jeremybooth) May 30, 2023

Another fact worth remembering is that back pulls scams are made possible by the decentralized, pseudonymous nature of Web3. Until the space engineers find a way to eat and eat his pie, these risks will always be there, and NFT enthusiasts will have to take the good with the bad.

Ultimately, each person in Web3 will have to make their own choice whether they think the crypto and NFT world is still worth living in. Could you benefit from a mental health break? Or even a short break from Web3 altogether? Do what you think is best, and don’t listen to someone who tries to rebuke you for “giving up in the bear to get back in the bull.”

No one has the right to judge you for the way you decide to prioritize taking care of yourself in this chaotic, confusing and sometimes extremely discouraging Web3 space. It’s not going anywhere – and neither are we.