The explosive growth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Web3 has created a new frontier for digital art and collectibles, but also an emerging space for fraudulent activities. This study provides an in-depth analysis of NFT rug pulls, which are fraudulent schemes aimed at stealing investors' funds. Using data from 758 rug pulls across 10 NFT marketplaces, we examine the structural and behavioral properties of these schemes, identify the characteristics and motivations of rug-pullers, and classify NFT projects into groups based on creators' association with their accounts. Our findings reveal that repeated rug pulls account for a significant proportion of the rise in NFT-related cryptocurrency crimes, with one NFT collection attempting 37 rug pulls within three months. Additionally, we identify the largest group of creators influencing the majority of rug pulls, and demonstrate the connection between rug-pullers of different NFT projects through the use of the same wallets to store and move money. Our study contributes to the understanding of NFT market risks and provides insights for designing preventative strategies to mitigate future losses.

翻译：非同质化代币（NFT）在 Web3 领域的爆发式增长为数字艺术和收藏品开辟了新领域，但也催生了新兴的欺诈活动空间。本研究深入分析了 NFT rug pulls——旨在窃取投资者资金的欺诈性计划。我们利用来自 10 个 NFT 市场的 758 起 rug pulls 数据，考察了这些计划的结构与行为特性，识别了 rug-pullers 的特征与动机，并根据创建者与其账户的关联对 NFT 项目进行了分类。我们的发现表明，重复 rug pulls 在 NFT 相关加密货币犯罪增长中占据显著比例，其中一个 NFT 系列在三个月内试图进行 37 次 rug pulls。此外，我们识别出影响大多数 rug pulls 的最大创建者群体，并证明了不同 NFT 项目的 rug-pullers 之间通过使用相同钱包存储和转移资金而存在关联。本研究有助于理解 NFT 市场风险，并为设计预防策略以减少未来损失提供了见解。