QUADRIGA INITIATIVE
CRYPTO WATCHDOG & FRAUD RECOVERY PLATFORM
A COMMUNITY-BASED, NOT-FOR-PROFIT
UNKNOWN
FEBRUARY 2022
GLOBAL
THE HEART PROJECT
DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS
"The Heart Project isreleasing a collection of 10,000 NFT’s living on the blockchain as collectibles." "The Heart Project is a community-run creative studio which enables passionate lovers of creativity to shape the art we interact with. 10,000 unique tokens on the Ethereum-based blockchain will serve as membership passes which grant access to creative contribution and shared ownership of our group creations. The Heart Project Creative Studio is designed to produce media with thousands of contributors on every project and grants ownership of our shared creations."
"The “Heart” character has 235 unique attributes which have been plugged into a computer generated AI with the possibility of creating over a trillion different combinations."
"Each Heart NFT is one of a kind based on its combination of characteristics." "When you are verified as a heart owner, you will gain membership access to our collaborative portal in our discord. This will allow you to decide on & define the creation of all Heart Project endeavors. We will begin with a music video, a clothing capsule, a game, and an album - but soon the community will take control of what comes next. Each project will amplify the unique voices of all members and be shaped by all of us. The group as a whole will also partner with musicians and brands to collaborate on creative projects. Together, we will vote on which outside projects and artists the Heart Project will work with."
"The Heart Project was created by Stefan Meier and Aidan Cullen in 2021. Over the past two years, Stefan has been developing a series of paintings and drawings inspired by the cartoons of his childhood. The character he felt most drawn to was a heart because of its simple and universal message of love, healing, and compassion. He teamed up with fellow artist Aidan Cullen, an avid cryptocurrency and NFT enthusiast, who helped grow the idea and put together a dedicated team to create a world and community surrounding the character. The combination of this classic symbol with Stefan’s distinct visual style is bringing something unique to the NFT world. The DIY aesthetic sets it apart from other NFT collections, and so do our goals for the project."
"On Sept. 27, Cullen and Meier dropped 10,000 NFTs for 0.08888 ETH (cryptocurrency currently worth roughly $370) each, as the key to become part of the community. The NFT itself is a computer-generated heart cartoon designed by Meier, with each one having randomly assigned attributes. They sold out in less than 30 seconds."
"Every Heart was 0.08888 ETH at mint, but they’re now selling for around 1 ETH on the secondary markets. The “Heart” character has 235 unique attributes that have been plugged into a computer-generated AI with the possibility of creating over a trillion different combinations. Most buyers will choose the Heart that they identify with the most. In the first collection, the Heart project team sold 5,000 during a presale, and 5,000 were released on the NFT drop date. The team will reserve 250 NFTs for giveaways to the community."
"The 4,900 “heart holders,” as Cullen and Meier call them, hail from 50 different countries and are part of a special Discord channel where they are privy to star-studded creative opportunities. Cullen and Meier are also aided by Brockhampton creative director Henock Sileshi (aka HK) and software engineer Luke Davis. Current ventures include producing and writing a song with Benny Blanco and Lil Dicky, creating music videos for Deb Never and Jean Dawson, a community-designed clothing capsule and a collaborative zine. When these projects are complete, they will also have a NFT component to them, allowing contributors to turn the collaboration into cash."
"The official Discord server of the NFT project The Heart Project was hacked. Scammers deleted most of The Heart Project's Discord channels and posted scam links."
"The Heart Project project tweeted an official NFT Discord server went down on February 2. Scammers deleted many channels and posted scam links on the server. As a result, some users clicked on fraudulent links and lost money. The Heart Project said it would reimburse users for lost ETH. At present, the official is working hard to restore Discord and remind users not to click on any unknown links, and it would be best to disconnect the wallet."
"OUR DISCORD JUST GOT HACKED, DO NOT CLICK ANY LINKS WE ARE HAVING OUR TEAM DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW"
"According to The Heart Project, some users clicked on fraudulent links and said they lost assets."
"Earlier today our Discord server was compromised." "This was a multi-person, coordinated attack that attempted to take advantage of our community." "The scammers were able to briefly take over our server, wipe most of our channels, and post a scam mint link. The spam link was up for seven minutes before we were able to regain control of the server." "During that time, a few users clicked the fraudulent link and reported that they were scammed."
"The Heart Project says it will reimburse users for lost ether." "We will be reimbursing the ETH taken from everyone who minted through the fake link posted in our server. Check our discord for more details."
"[W]e are sincerely sorry for anyone impacted. It is unfair and devastating to be a victim of this type of scam, and we are working around the clock to right this situation."
"While we’re working hard to get our Discord back up and running, this is a good time to remind everyone to enable Discord two-factor authentication and avoid clicking on any suspicious links." "We also recommend disconnecting your wallet from all websites it may currently be connected to. If you are unsure how to do so, there are many online resources that can walk you through the process."
Just days after creating a humourous "you got rugged" campaign, giving away rugs to different users, many users had their hearts stolen by hackers. The Heart Project discord was attacked, and malicious links were used to trick users into granting access to their NFTs, which the attacker then resold.
HOW COULD THIS HAVE BEEN PREVENTED?
If this is similar to other Discord hacks that have happened in the past, the lesson here is about the weakness of two-factor authentication where all factors are the same device, and about regularly using an account with more privileges than necessary. When all factors are the same device, it's just a matter of breaching that device to perpetrate an attack. Using a full-permissioned account when not necessary increases the breach window, while having a separate account for everyday use would greatly limit what an adversary could do if they ever got in.
Ideally, performing key actions such as banning moderators or posting global announcements would be set up such that multiple people's approval is required. In this way, it would be nearly impossible to breach.
In our framework, we advocate for training platform operators about incidents such as these, and require the approval of two separate security sign-offs for a project to launch, which would likely catch any weak security practices. A discretionary treasury fund is available to cover losses, in addition to whatever treasury is available with projects directly.
SlowMist Hacked - SlowMist Zone (Jun 26)
The Heart Project (Mar 13)
https://mobile.twitter.com/HeartNFTs/status/1488388393121636356 (Mar 13)
https://mobile.twitter.com/HeartNFTs/status/1488661897532493830 (Mar 13)
https://mobile.twitter.com/HeartNFTs/status/1488743536195301377 (Mar 13)
https://opensea.io/collection/heartnfts (Mar 13)
How To Buy The Heart Project NFTs • Benzinga Crypto (Mar 13)
The Heart Project Founders on Building a Creative NFT Community - Variety (Mar 13)
This 15-Year-Old Has a Record Deal, Justin Bieber as a Fan, and His Own NFTs (Mar 13)
@HeartNFTs Twitter (Mar 13)
The official Discord of the NFT project, The Heart Project, was hacked - Aliens: AI Crypto News & Markets Updates (Mar 13)
The heart project official discord of NFT project was attacked by hackers - CoinCryptoRadar (Mar 13)
NFTs for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know About The Latest Crypto Craze (Aug 18)
