How to verify the authenticity of the source of an NFT? How to prevent "sleep minting" scams?

NFT content is easily replicable, as anyone can simply "right-click copy" to easily display the same image on social media. However, by checking the on-chain information to confirm that the NFT is indeed minted by the creator's wallet or owned smart contract, authenticity can be verified. Nevertheless, some malicious individuals manipulate smart contracts using "sleep minting" techniques, allowing them to alter the source of the minted NFT?

What is "Sleep Minting"?

Sleep Minting refers to the act where scammers directly mint NFTs to the wallets of well-known creators but retain the right to reclaim or extract the NFT, eventually transferring the NFT back to their own wallet. This process can lead to the following scenarios:

• The creator appears to have minted the NFT themselves
• Based on on-chain information, scammers can claim to own an NFT minted by a famous creator and sell it at a high price

Typically, by observing the transfer history of ERC-721, which includes the NFT's transfer-out address, transfer-in address, and the transferred NFT ID, one can clearly understand the NFT's transaction history. However, the trap of Sleep Minting lies in the fact that when scammers transfer the NFT from the wallet of a well-known creator, they can artificially place the creator's address in the "sender" part of the transfer record, as shown in the figure below.

Avoiding the Trap

If one day you come across a well-known NFT listed at a low price on the NFT trading market, or if a work by a famous creator is being sold at an unreasonable price, you can verify through the "NFT Sleep Minting" bot on the Forta platform. This feature was created by A16Z's crypto trader Michael Blau and monitors suspicious sleep minting behavior in real-time, issuing warnings accordingly.

If you find a smart contract address highly suspicious, you can directly search for it in the search field. Any past suspicious activities will be displayed below to mitigate the risk of falling victim to scams.