XRP Scam Alert: Deepfake Video Targets Ripple Community

A deep-fake video has been discovered by members of Reddit. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse requests that holders of XRP transmit their money to a certain address in the video. He also promises to give back twice as much. This is a standard tactic that fraudsters use.

A user of the internet forum Reddit stated in a discussion that they had spotted the commercial on YouTube as early as November 25 and December 3 of this year.

Screenshot of an unlisted YouTube video of the ad. Source: YouTube

Additionally, several Redditors who were participating in the post stated that they had also reported seeing advertisements of a similar nature on the network. An artificially intelligent likeness of Garlinghouse was featured in the video.

Viewers were instructed to transmit tokens to a “designated address” during the XRP event. Within the context of the fictitious giveaway, the actor in the video made a promise to refund “double the amount” in exchange for payment.

After a court verdict in favor of Ripple in its dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in July, Ripple’s chief technical officer, David Schwartz, issued a warning to investors on July 14 about the proliferation of XRP frauds. Schwartz’s warning came after the court ruling.

According to Schwartz, the rule does not involve any giveaways, airdrops, or special incentives of any kind. An individual on Reddit asserts that Google has not removed the advertisement, despite the fact that there are clear indications that the video commercial is an attempt to defraud cryptocurrency consumers.

Reddit user published a screenshot of Google Trust and Safety Team’s response. The answer stated that the team had made the decision to not remove the advertisement.

As shown in the screenshot, the Google team stated that the advertisement did not violate their regulations and requested that the user provide additional information within a period of six months following the campaign.

Furthermore, Reddit users shared a link to a non-listed YouTube video featuring the deepfake advertisement. At the time of this writing, the video had already received more than 17,000 views, even though it couldn’t be searched on the site.

Reddit users warned the community not to interact with the QR code displayed in the video to avoid losing their money.