Ripple’s David Schwartz Warns of Fake AI Video Scam Promoting XRP
The fake video claimed that Ripple is launching a $100 million XRP airdrop program.
David Schwartz, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the popular crypto firm Ripple, has alerted the crypto community to a sophisticated scam involving a deepfake video.
In a tweet on X, Schwartz commented under a video promoting XRP, calling it an “obvious scam” and an AI-generated video.
In the video, Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, allegedly said, “Four years ago, we entered a battle we didn’t choose, but we fought and we won against the SEC. This is a victory for justice, innovation, and the future of crypto. We couldn’t have done it without our XRP community. Now it’s our turn to say thank you. I’m launching the Ripple reward program, $100 million XRP airdrop pool created for you.”
Ripple Resolves Legal Issues with SEC
The video referenced Ripple’s battle and victory with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), possibly implying the platform’s recent win in its legal case.
Last month, Ripple Labs and the SEC mutually agreed to drop their appeals against each other, after several attempts, effectively ending an almost 5-year-long legal dispute.
To reward the XRP community, the video claimed that Garlinghouse was launching an airdrop program. The video even directed its audience to a fake website, Finance-XRP.net, to check out instructions to participate in the airdrop, showing how detailed the video was.
AI-Powered Crypto Scams on the Rise
As AI technology continues to evolve and offer numerous benefits, malicious individuals are exploiting its potential to operate sophisticated scams, luring innocent people and swindling them out of their hard-earned money.
Nonetheless, in a related development, the Hong Kong authorities busted a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam involving deepfake technology. The authorities arrested 27 individuals who extorted over $46.3 million from unsuspecting victims across Asia
However, the criminal group used AI-generated imagery to engage in fake romantic relationships with their victims, deceiving them into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes. After investigating the case for about two months, the Hong Kong authorities raised their center and arrested the suspects, seizing assets, including two luxury watches worth about $257,400 and $38,600 respectively.
After taking the case to court, the suspects faced charges of conspiracy to defraud, with some also facing additional charges.
