As a digital artist, I was excited to mint my first NFTs. I found a new platform called ArtVault, which marketed itself as a place for independent artists to showcase and sell their work. Their website featured verified collectors, a growing community, and lower gas fees compared to OpenSea. It seemed legit.

I minted three of my best pieces, paying around $300 in Ethereum for gas fees. A few days later, I received a message from a collector offering to buy my NFT for 5 ETH (around $8,000 at the time). I was thrilled. The only step left was to verify my wallet by signing a transaction they sent me.

Excited by my first big sale, I signed the transaction. Within minutes, all my funds and NFTs were drained from my wallet.

The website, support team, and social media pages disappeared overnight. ArtVault had been a fake NFT marketplace designed to trick artists into signing malicious smart contracts. My artwork was stolen and later found being resold on another platform under a different name.