As XRP hit $3.66, scammers hijacked YouTube accounts to run fake Ripple giveaways. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse warned the crypto community to stay alert, reminding users that Ripple never promotes giveaways or asks for tokens.
XRP’s (XRP-USD) powerful surge to new multi-year highs has triggered a familiar but serious threat. Scammers are ramping up attacks, this time hijacking YouTube accounts and pretending to be Ripple. The goal is clear: exploit the excitement in the market and lure unsuspecting investors with promises of fake giveaways.
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Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse issued a public warning on X, saying that as the crypto market picks up momentum, bad actors are quickly following.
“Like clockwork, with success and market rallies, scammers ramp up their attacks on the crypto community,” Garlinghouse said. “Please beware of the latest scam targeting the XRP family on YouTube and impersonating Ripple’s official account.”
Scammers Take Over Real Channels to Spread Fake Offers
Ripple says these impersonators are stealing YouTube accounts with large followings and then rebranding them to look like Ripple’s official channel. The pages promote fake XRP giveaways, often featuring edited footage of Garlinghouse and using Ripple’s logo and branding to appear credible.
One user on X, going by XtinaRP, flagged one such scam using a YouTube account with over 176,000 subscribers.
“This one looks very convincing. Scammers are using accounts with 176K subs to promote a fake 100M XRP event. Ripple will never conduct giveaways. Stay cautious,” she posted.
Ripple reminded users that it will never ask for XRP or promote giveaways. The company also encouraged the community to report fake accounts and warned that scammers are getting better at mimicking real platforms.
Naturally, Mthe scammers have timed this with XRP’s recent price rally. XRP hit $3.66, its highest level since early 2018, before pulling back to around $3.10. The excitement around price gains has created a perfect opening for scammers to target newer investors drawn in by the rally.
Ripple Has Been Here Before
Ripple previously took legal action against YouTube over this exact issue. In 2020, it filed a lawsuit accusing the platform of profiting from scam content. The case focused on phishing scams where fraudsters hijacked YouTube accounts and repurposed them to imitate Ripple’s executives.
Although the lawsuit was dropped in 2021 after the two sides reached an agreement to improve enforcement, the attacks have resurfaced. With XRP now approaching its all-time highs again, scammers are applying the same tricks on a bigger stage.
In fact, crypto scams overall are hitting new records. Losses reached $2.1 billion in the first half of 2025, already surpassing last year’s total and eclipsing 2022’s previous high.
Even Google Searches Are Now a Threat
It’s not just YouTube. Scam Sniffer, a blockchain security group, reported that fraudulent ads are now appearing at the top of Google (GOOGL) search results for crypto terms. These ads use a trick called Punycode spoofing, which makes fake websites look exactly like real ones in your browser.
“Stop using Google search for crypto sites unless you enjoy playing Russian roulette with your wallet,” Scam Sniffer warned in a post.
Investors should be cautious. Always double-check links, never trust livestream giveaways, and be extra cautious when navigating crypto content online. The scams are becoming more convincing just as market prices are rising.
