FREE NFTs!

 Everyone loves a free NFT right? WRONG!

Lately I keep getting sent NFTs, I go on to OpenSea, check my wallet and sometimes there's an unexpected addition staring back at me, yesterday I had 3 turn up in my wallet.

A free NFT I received recently - Michael Jackson - Actor Punk #20 - OpenSea Link

Now, the first time it happened I was excited, I thought I had prematurely entered whale territory and people were seeing me as a wallet of stature that deserves a little something free. Of course this is wrong, I'm just a guy buying mostly trash NFTs and trying to make a bit of money, so why am I getting them?

I still don't know the exact reason but I have a theory, let me explain...

I have noticed a trend with scams recently, it's a hot topic in the community and there are reports of some big names losing some very valuable NFTs to scams, one of the scams being talked about is to do with random NFTs.

So the story goes that you have one sent to your wallet "randomly", you obviously have no use for it so you list it for sale, by interacting with the contract you are opening up your wallet to intruders. I'm not entirely sure how it works but I have seen a lot of people saying that this is indeed what is happening, the general advice is to simply hide it in OpenSea as you are not interacting with their contract but rather OpenSea so you avoid the "scam" part.

Now this could be wild speculation, without reading and understanding the contracts of individual NFTs all I can do is speculate and no one's got time to read every NFT you're sent.

I think is safe to assume that a lot of these random NFTs are completely harmless and are probably just creators trying to spread awareness of their work, I've done it myself, although with so much money potentially on the line it is so important to take care with your wallet and protect it at all costs, at the end of the day it is your money and your time that you have invested, don't give it away easily.

In summary, my feelings towards free NFTs was initially excitement but has quickly turned me into a paranoid mess!