The mysterious graffiti artist from England Banksy got his website hacked seven days after his team warned him it might have security issues. A British collector and also fan got scammed with a $336,000-worth digital art. Luckily, the fan got his money back. 

On Tuesday, Banksy’s digital art was promoted on his official website. It was an image that displayed one of the NFT collectibles called CryptoPunks. 

NFT, also known as non-fungible tokens, represents unique digital items such as art. With NFT, the owners of the digital artwork can be bought and sold by creating an ownership certificate. People who buy NFTs carry certificates that indicate ownership of the original item. However, this certificate doesn’t mean buyers have copyright, which means other netizens can still access or view the digital item. Simply put, an NFT acts like an ownership receipt of a digital item. 

Banksy fell prey to hackers Tuesday when his official website was hacked and scammed a fan out of $336,000 (£242,000). Security experts gave the graffiti artist a heads up that the website might be hacked. However, the artist ignored it. 

Who is Banksy? 

Banksy is an England-based graffiti artist, street artist, film director, and political activist. Although the artist is famous both online and offline, he keeps his identity a secret. He’s dubbed as the anonymous British graffiti artist. 

He remains anonymous while creating his artwork and only reveals it when it gains traction on social media. Banksy’s style leans more towards stencils to make it quicker to paint. The great French graffiti artist Blek le Rat also has a significant influence on Banksy’s style. 

NFT scam

A British collector thought he bought a world-renowned artist’s first-ever NFT, only to realize that the artwork was fake after buying it. He had been led to a link to an auction with the URL “banksy.co.uk/NFT.” The link showed a collectible entitled “Great Redistribution of the Climate Change Disaster was deleted after the auction. The auction finished early, and the fan bid 90 percent over other fans. 

The fan paid close to $336,000 for a fake Banksy digital art. The British collector under the name Pranksy wanted to stay anonymous. Moreover, Pranksy was even more surprised when the hacker returned the entire amount save for the $5,000 transaction fee. 

He said an anonymous person alerted him on Discord about the auction. He also said that the hacker might have been scared because Pranksy found out who he was and followed him on Twitter. Pranksy also recounts how the media was all over the NFT hack scam and might have pushed the hacker to return the money. 

Although he is now $5,000 short, he says he’s still fortunate to get the rest of the amount back. He said he feels sorry for others in a similar situation, with the worst outcome of not getting a refund. 

Scam or stunt?

While the fake link is already weird enough, others thought it was also highly bizarre that the scammer returned the money. People even speculated it was all part of a stunt.

However, Prof Paul Gough, an expert on Banksy art and Arts University Bournemouth principal and vice-chancellor, says it couldn’t have been. 

For one, Banksy was recently busy with his “Spraycation” stunt, where he filmed 10 of his projects in East Anglia. And secondly, the artwork is a far cry from his stencil-inspired style.

Hey everyone. Kim Kardashian did another thing. And it’s not what you expect.

This year’s 2021 Met Gala theme was “American Independence.” This theme was so open that the outfits, dresses, and costumes were absolutely all over the place. From Frank Ocean’s puppet to Grimes’ Sci-Fi Warrier outfit, to AOC’s “Tax The Rich” gown this year’s Met Gala was one to see.

And who stood out amongst the crowd? Why, Kim Kardashian, of course.

When people expect something from you, the best way to maintain attention is to take that expectation and flip it on its head. Because Kim knows how to “break the internet,” Twitter went HAM on memes. 

Here’s a compilation of all the best memes made from Kim Kardashian and her attention-seeking outfit. 

If I woke up seeing that I’d have a very wet bed.

Definitely knock before entering.

Some people may be very disappointed when they unlock this character.

Me. So, so me.

Quick! Throw a Pokeball at it!

Best anti-social social outfit ever.

“dementor” is a little on the nose, no?

You know who had a way more impressive Met Gala appearance than Kim Kardashian? Lil Nas X.

Look at how shiny she is. You go on Lil Nas X, with your gay C-3PO look.

Many fans of Fortnite would agree that it’s no longer just a game; it’s an experience. The developer of the popular game, Epic Games is known to release new maps or experiments to keep players on it. Two of which are the mystery cube and a black hole that created a new map. But their latest release is the Ariana Grande Fortnite concert treating millions of fans to the Princess of Pop’s hits as they explore a magical pastel map.

Let’s take a look at how players enjoyed the Ariana Grande Fortnite concert in all of its pastel glory.

Rift Tour: Ariana Grande Fortnite Concert

The concert was live from August 6 to 8. Before players can witness the Ariana Grande Fortnite concert live, they can complete quests and win rewards, such as a Cosmic Cuddles loading screen, kitty emoticon, and spray. Those who played any of the five live games received an umbrella.

In the Rift Tour video, players wait in a lobby or space under an unknown flying object in the sky. There, they run towards a rectangular portal where they float towards an animated Fortnite-version of Ariana Grande, hand holding out, welcoming them on a new experience.

Before they get treated to the Ariana Grande musical journey, they can rack up points by sliding across a track and fighting a giant boss, Storm King. Players can hear music from Travis Scott and Marshmello before they meet the Princess of Pop and enjoy dancing and floating to her tunes.

Gaming and Music Come Together

Fortnite isn’t only famous for battle-royale and team battles. Players can bust out dance moves like The Dab. And anyone online for the live concert danced along to Grande’s catchy tunes.

Grande sings the following hits as players traverse through different courses in the game:

• Raindrops
• 7 Rings
• Be Alright
• R.E.M.
• The Way
• Positions

Players are treated to different experiences during the musical journey, giving fans an unforgettable audiovisual treat. Ariana Grande starts with a brief Raindrops performance, with players helping each other up. Then, an orb of light appears and lands on a circular stage where she finally emerges to sing 7 Rings. It transitions to a beach where players can dance along to one of her famous hits.

During her Be Alright number, players float inside a bubble while Grande flies through the air thanks to her winged glass shards costume. And for her R.E.M. performance, players ride on flying unicorns while the singer sits on a giant swing.

She then sings her next song, The Way, where players can move up the stairs where they teleport to another flight of stairs until they reach the top. Finally, Positions plays where players can jump and dance along to the beat.

The whole musical journey ends with the singer breaking the glassy exterior of the map with a hammer. Then, the players are sucked back into the portal they entered and to the lobby.

Post-Concert Quests, Rewards, and Items

Although the live concert is no longer available, Fortnite players can download the content for free on Fortnite’s site. As reported by Ginx.tv, there are four quests available to play. One of them is meant for solo players, and the three require a team. The rewards you’ll receive are experience points, and an XOXO emote.

The post-concert rewards include Skye Up High Loading Screen, an umbrella, and a Rift-Tour banner. Only those with a Fortnite Crew subscription are entitled to these awards. Also, die-hard Arianators and Fortnite fans can buy the Ariana Grande skin and play as the pop star.

However, the quests are only available until August 23, 10 AM EST.

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