25/03/2022 Two 20-year-olds charged in alleged $1.1M NFT scam

Prosecutors in New York’s Southern District Thursday charged two 20-year-olds in connection with an alleged NFT scam.

Ethan Vinh Nguyen and Andre Marcus Quiddaoen Llacuna were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering for allegedly selling bogus NFTs to investors before abandoning the project, shutting down their website, and absconding with $1.1 million in digital funds.

NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are digital assets supposedly made unique and therefore scarce through block-chain technology. In recent years NFTs have fueled aboom in sales of digital art.

“The trending market and demand for NFT investments has not only drawn the attention of real artists, but scam artists as well,” Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent In Charge Ricky Patel said in a statement.“The arrested thieves allegedly hid behind online identities where they promised investors rewards, giveaways, and exclusive opportunities before implementing their ‘rug pull’ scheme– leaving investors with empty pockets and no legitimate investment.”

Prosecutors say the pair had pulled up stakes on their so-called “Frosties” series of NFTs — deleting the website and transferring the $1.1 million across several virtual wallets — within hours of selling out the digital tokens.

"Embers" website Ethan Vinh Nguyen and Andre Marcus Quiddaoen Llacuna were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering for allegedly selling bogus NFTs to investors before abandoning the project.U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Nguyen and Llacuna were planning to repeat the digital fly-by-night act with a March 26 NFT drop called “Embers”, prosecutors said.

The pair face up to 20 years in prison in convicted.

Arts

https://nypost.com/2022/03/24/two-20-year-olds-charged-in-alleged-1-1m-nft-scam/

Interesting NFTs
The Harvest
An anthropomorphic figure stands, wide eyed, staring at the viewer; its body masculine, muscular, and humanoid. Its “mind” dissociates into a conglomerate of structures resembling feathers, grain, teeth–as well as a radial flower “node”, casting linear rays throughout the composition. To his left, a vat of bodies gesture and writhe in a kind of amniotic soup, attended by a video game robot. The bot's red display reads “uWu”. Behind the robot and filling the left side of the composition is an archaic figure composed of a variety of vintage objects and symbols. Among them are a hardbound book with ancient cuneiform scripts, indicating barley, beer, bread, ox, house, and sky, behind which is a grimacing, salivating jagged toothed maw; and an old Commodore floppy drive. The figure’s head tilts toward an illuminated crescent moon, suggesting the Egyptian Sacred Bull. The archaic figure is composed of a variety of mutating cells, which shift in color, and pattern; eventually breaking free into an ephemeral broadcast of bubbles which move across the background. The work came into being against a psychological introspection, which included associations to pop culture such as alien abduction and pod people, as well as quite a bit of reflection on grains as a symbol of civilization, agriculture, sustenance, life, and imbibing (mainly whiskies).
Pixel Story
This happy-go-lucky tribe made of lovable pixel Kitties have so much to talk about. While their language skills are simplistic, each Kitty still manages to express themselves with a variety of colorful emoticons and poses. From communicating their basic emotions, to discussing the economic implications of rising Ethereum gas prices, Pixel Tribe Kitties will keep each other entertained for hours. As their communications evolve and become more sophisticated, the inhabitants will come to realize that certain combinations of emotes will unlock secrets within their world. Try it out for yourself, if you're lucky enough to adopt a Kitty. Use the coordinate guide at: https://share.getcloudapp.com/7KumW6Lk to position your kitty Layer.
CryptoKitties
Ugh! I'm Kitty #175574. I enjoy glaring at the neighbour's cat, licking doorknobs, and tricking babies. My great-great-great-great-great-great grandkitty lived with Amelia Earhart. I hope we can be pawmates.
busy_chasing_dreams
Digital Painting hand-drawn on iPhone6, 1080px x 1080px, 2019
2+2=5
conceptual art. post on cent.