RCS - Brandshield Systems - New NFT Findings

Brandshield SystemsAnnouncement

06/06/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 6856N  Brandshield Systems PLC  06 June 2022

 6 June 2022

 

BrandShield Systems plc

 

("BrandShield," the "Company," or the "Group")

 

New NFT Findings

 

BrandShield Systems (AIM: BRSD), a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions
for brand oriented digital risk protection, is pleased to announce new
findings on the increasing threat and proliferation of unauthorised NFTs
associated with popular US celebrities who have promoted NFTs.

Markets and Markets predicts that the existing $3 billion NFT market will
become a $13.6 billion market by 2027, and BrandShield's findings underscore
the severity of crypto scammers leveraging celebrity influence to defraud
unsuspecting fans.

Beware: Social Media Impersonators

 

BrandShield identified the ten most popular celebrities who have promoted
NFTs, crypto wallets, and digital assets in the past year. The Company then
conducted a deep search of the internet, analysing websites, domain names, and
social platforms to surface potential scams associated with NFTs these
celebrities promote or NFTs associated with their names.

 

Across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, BrandShield found over
16,500 impersonators targeting popular celebrities. Twitter had the highest
number of celebrity impersonators, with 44% of the fraudulent findings
surfacing on the platform. Facebook (28%) and Pinterest (24%) had similar
amounts of impersonators, whilst Instagram had the least (4%).

 

Of the top celebrities impersonated, Tom Brady's name accounted for the
highest percentage (17.49%) across social media platforms, followed by Matt
Damon (13.79%) and Mike Tyson (13.56%).

 

A breakdown of celebrities by percentage and total impersonations below:

 

1.    Tom Brady - 17.49%, 2889 impersonations

2.    Matt Damon - 13.79%, 2278 impersonations

3.    Mike Tyson - 13.56%, 2239 impersonations

4.    Kim Kardashian - 12.05%, 1990 impersonations

5.    Paris Hilton - 10.92%, 1804 impersonations

6.    Jamie Foxx - 9.13%, 1508 impersonations

7.    Floyd Mayweather - 7.12%, 1174 impersonations

8.    Charli D'amelio - 6.55%, 1082 impersonations

9.    Reese Witherspoon - 4.74%, 782 impersonations

10.  Gwyneth Paltrow - 4.65%, 768 impersonations

 

Fake Celebrity NFTs on OpenSea

 

BrandShield scanned popular NFT marketplace OpenSea for fraudulent listings to
understand the breadth of NFT scams associated with the top impersonated
celebrities.

 

The company surfaced over 41,500 NFTs with unauthorised use of likeness and
image associated with popular celebrities. In addition to social media
impersonations, these scams were executed through networks of typosquatting
domains and redirecting social media followers of personal accounts to NFT
marketplaces.

 

As with social media impersonations, Tom Brady accounted for the highest
percentage (75.53%) of fraudulent NFTs, followed by Mike Tyson (16.65%) and
Kim Kardashian (4.23%).

 

A breakdown of celebrities by percentage and total fake NFTs on OpenSea is
below:

 

1.    Tom Brady - 75.53%, 31,400 fake NFTs

2.    Mike Tyson - 16.65%, 6922 fake NFTs

3.    Kim Kardashian - 4.23%, 1758 fake NFTs

4.    Paris Hilton - 2.82%, 1171 fake NFTs

5.    Matt Damon - 0.77%, 322 fake NFTs

 

Yoav Keren, Chief Executive Officer of BrandShield, commented:

"We identified a number of imposter profiles and domains that link directly to
unauthorised NFT listings that use the celebrity's name, likeness, and brand
affiliations. These fraudsters spread their scams over many different
platforms to evade detection, and social media is often the first layer of the
funnel. Frequently, without their knowledge or consent, endorsement of an NFT
is weaponised against a celebrity's fandom."

"Whilst many brands and celebrities have seen NFTs as a positive way to create
meaningful, digital touchpoints for fans, the unregulated, 'wild west' digital
asset space can be dangerous. Until these scams are less rampant, we advise
that fans do their diligence to ensure NFTs associated with popular figures
are legitimate, and generally approach crypto and NFTs with caution."

Enquiries:

 

 BrandShield Systems plc                                             +44 (0)20 3143 8300

 Yoav Keren, CEO

 Spark Advisory Partners Limited (Nominated Adviser)                 +44 (0)20 3368 3554

 Neil Baldwin / Andrew Emmott / James Keeshan

 Shore Capital (Joint Broker)                                        +44 (0)20 7408 4090

 Toby Gibbs / James Thomas / Liam Zabludowicz (Corporate Advisory)

 Henry Willcocks (Corporate Broking)

 Tennyson Securities (Joint Broker)                                  +44 (0)20 3368 3554

 Peter Krens

 Vigo Consulting (Financial Public Relations)                        +44 (0)20 7390 0237

 Jeremy Garcia / Kendall Hill

 brandshield@vigoconsulting.com

 

About BrandShield

 

BrandShield is a provider of cybersecurity solutions from brand protection to
online threat hunting. BrandShield detects online threats and takes them
down. The Company's client base is a growing list of organisations including
Fortune 500 and FTSE100 companies. By utilising AI and big-data analysis,
BrandShield monitors, detects, and removes online threats facing companies.
These threats include social phishing, executive impersonation, fraud, brand
abuse, and counterfeits.

 

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For more information, visit  www.brandshield.com
(http://www.brandshield.com/) .

 

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