Surge in Cryptocurrency Scams
The surge in cryptocurrency values has begun attracting a new wave of fraudsters targeting the growing crypto community, warns Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple. In a recent post on X, Garlinghouse highlighted the alarming trend of increased scam activities linked to the recent market rally. He specifically pointed out that some scammers are now impersonating Ripple’s official YouTube channel, potentially deceiving users into identifiable frauds.
Record Losses from Crypto Scams
Data reveals that crypto scams reached unprecedented losses of $2.1 billion during the first half of 2025—a staggering figure that surpasses 2022’s previous record of $2 billion and nearly matches the total losses experienced throughout all of 2024.
Market Trends and Price Fluctuations
With the XRP cryptocurrency reaching a near peak of $3.66 on July 18—just shy of the $3.84 mark from 2018—analysts are optimistic about further price increases, despite a recent dip resulting in a price correction to $3.19. Meanwhile, the broader market is thriving, with Bitcoin experiencing a gain exceeding 7% over the past two weeks, now trading above $119,000, and Ethereum seeing a spike of over 31%, priced at $3,644 per token.
Warnings from Ripple
“As expected, every time the market flourishes, scammers seem to ramp up their operations targeting the crypto community. We urge everyone to be vigilant against the latest scams targeting the XRP community through fake channels impersonating our official account on YouTube,” cautioned Garlinghouse. He emphasized that any requests asking users to send XRP are fraudulent and not from Ripple.
Reports from users on X confirm ongoing scams, with one identifying a fake account that claimed to offer free XRP giveaways, luring many into a trap. This account mimicked Ripple’s branding convincingly, utilizing an impressive subscriber count to enhance its authenticity.
Community Response and Legal Actions
While Ripple’s official YouTube account boasts over 81,000 subscribers, scammers are reportedly leveraging YouTube accounts with even larger followings to propagate their schemes. To counteract these scams, Ripple has stated that they will continue to report such issues and called on the community to do the same. In the past, Ripple has taken legal action against YouTube for failing to adequately address impersonation issues but dropped a lawsuit in March 2021 after supposedly reaching an agreement with the platform.
Broader Impersonation Concerns
Adding to the concerns, security experts from Scam Sniffer have pointed out that other crypto institutions are also facing impersonation attacks through Google searches, with misleading ads appearing at the top of results for various cryptocurrency companies. They advise users to be cautious and refrain from using Google searches to find crypto-related platforms to avoid becoming victim to scams.
Final Reminders
In light of these alarming developments, crypto enthusiasts and users are reminded to remain vigilant and skeptical, especially when offers seem too good to be true.
