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The Lindbergh Kidnapping of NFT thefts
It allegedly cost him a lot of money, but actor and producer Seth Green‘s Bored Ape is back where it belongs.
BuzzFeed News reports that Green recently got Bored Ape #8398 back from a collector with the pseudonym “Mr. Cheese,” a fact Green confirmed to the publication via Twitter Spaces. According to BuzzFeed:
The exchange appears to have occurred by way of a crypto escrow platform called NFT Trader where records reveal the ape departing Cheese’s wallet and eventually landing in the “Fred_Simian” account that presently contains it. Green has previously stated that he named the ape Fred Simian, and seemingly runs a Twitter account created for the character.
An unnamed wallet likely belonging to Green (it’s been used to purchase NFTs that now exist in his public vault) transferred 165 Ether, or approximately $297,000, to an address operated by Trader to exchange the ape.
Green’s saga began in early May, and he announced the loss on Twitter on May 17th.
At the time, the Robot Chicken co-creator was trying to pursue getting the valuable NFT back by contacting a purchaser directly, but he did admit the case might have to go to court.
How “Fred Simian” was kidnapped
Authorities who inspect crypto transactions are monitoring the NFT and have temporarily stopped any further trading activity. How did it all go down? As Green stated on Twitter, he was caught up in a phishing scam and the price was having 4 NFTs stolen from his cache.
And it wasn’t just that Green lost a high-profile and costly NFT — he has designed an entire show, White House Tavern, around the character. Without ownership rights, he wouldn’t be able to proceed with the series. NFT owners acquire intellectual property rights with their purchases, and for all intents and purposes, even though Green was scammed out of his Ape, he couldn’t air a show without perhaps entering into some very complicated and still murky legal waters.
What happens now?
According to BuzzFeed, the person who sold Green’s Ape back to him — Mr. Cheese, who also goes by “DarkWing84” — thought they’d purchased the NFT for $200,000 USD “in good faith.”
While Bored Ape #8398 still bears a “suspicious activity” tag on OpenSea, it seems like one of the first high-profile NFT kidnapping sagas is nearly over.
With additional reporting from Amogh Sundararaman.
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