The official YouTube channel of the Supreme Court of India was hacked and used to push a fake XRP crypto scheme.
On September 20, the hackers wiped all existing videos, renamed the channel to Ripple, and altered its URL to make it appear authentic to viewers.
They then broadcasted videos featuring deepfakes of Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse, promising large returns of investments to lure in potential victims.
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YouTube quickly shut down the channel due to “violations of Community Guidelines.”
These types of scams usually include phishing links embedded in the livestream, encouraging viewers to link their crypto wallets. Once victims authorize the connection, the scammers gain full access to their wallets, enabling them to steal funds instantly and without any additional authorization.
Scammers using these schemes often capitalize on big events, like the recent launch of Apple’s iPhone 16. YouTube was flooded with live streams featuring AI-generated versions of Apple CEO Tim Cook, encouraging viewers to send crypto to a “contribution address” to double their deposits. Some of these scam channels were even verified.
Similarly, in June, cybercriminals targeted the SpaceX launch event to broadcast deepfake versions of Elon Musk promoting the same double-your-money scheme.
With scammers increasingly targeting high-profile platforms to deceive unsuspecting users, it becomes increasingly important to remain cautious.
Gode is a Web3 Market Analyst who researches the most important industry events and interprets how they affect the wider Web3 space. Her formal education in media culture & digital rhetoric allows her to employ a methodical approach to evaluating critical Web3 news data, including large-scale events and the wider social sentiment within the ecosystem.
Gode is a mutilingual professional, having studied in multiple universities all across Europe. This allows her to have a one-of-a-kind opportunity to analyze Web3 social sentiments spanning different cultures and languages and, in turn, develop a much deeper understanding of how the Web3 space is growing within different communities. With the rest of her team, Gode works to identify crucial crypto news patterns and provide unbiased and data-driven information.
Gode’s passions include working and communicating with people, and when she’s not researching Web3 news, she spends her time traveling and watching true crime documentaries.
