The annoyingly real present of Metaverse technology is spreading, branching into multiple worlds. Out of the ever-increasing selection, one remains the most popular — Sandbox Metaverse.
Attracting the likes of Snoop Dogg and Adidas, the Sandbox Metaverse is certainly the most profitable of the new virtual worlds. Additionally, the social platform has seen massive sales of ugly NFT yachts and fake property — and none of it is safe.
Sandbox Metaverse has massive property theft
Reported by The Sun, Sandbox’s virtual property has seen a surge in crime. As the value of fake land increases, Metaverse hackers are already popping up to seize ownership for themselves. Who needs to pay thousands when you can just steal property from others?
Recently, one Sandbox Metaverse player was robbed of his virtual land. After his property was stolen, the player took to Reddit to complain. On the Opensea subreddit, the user explained that his land had been taken from him overnight.
“Upon looking further into the details, my land I purchased was transferred to another account that is unknown to me for zero dollars,” the user said. “I have followed the trail, and my parcel of land has been transferred to 3 other accounts since it was stolen.”
The stolen piece of land was first purchased for around $10,000. However, once stolen, the property was put on sale for around $23,000. As for the victim, it's left a massive impact on his view of cryptocurrency and Metaverses.
“I've lost all confidence in crypto, not that I had much confidence in it to begin with,” they said. “But I still have it a try. I hate to be one of those who say crypto and NFT sounds like a scam, but I'm left with no choice thinking that seeing how many people are getting robbed of their life savings and there’s no over sight.”
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They're not alone
The user’s Twitter thread revealed that they're not alone in having their virtual property stolen. In response, multiple commenter revealed that their assets had also been stolen. One user noted that Sandbox lands are being stolen within minutes of users buying them. Other users explained that Sandbox isn't the only Metaverse being targeted, so is Decentraland.
As these assets are supposed to be decentralised, there's not much that Sandbox, Opensea or Metamask can do. For example, if a single force takes action to restore assets to their rightful owner, that platform is no longer decentralised.
As it stands, Metaverse hacking is still going strong. On one hand, it is starting to whittle away at individuals’ trust of cryptocurrency. On the other hand, it's making hackers very wealthy.