Hackers gained access to the uppermost Indian judicial body’s YouTube account to shill a scam using the XRP banner. YouTube later reclaimed it from the bad actors, with the Supreme Court of India now in its control.
The Supreme Court of India’s YouTube channel turned Ripple-themed on September 20. Hackers made their way into the country’s apex judicial body’s account with close to 220,000 subscribers to change its name and content to reflect Ripple’s branding and messaging. They also changed the account’s name to ‘Ripple,’ deleted older videos uploaded by the Supreme Court of India, and altered the channel’s URL.
The cybercriminals then livestreamed a fake video of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. The livestream urged viewers to invest in a scheme offering unbelievably high returns, which was a scam orchestrated by the hackers to loot them. YouTube later took the channel down for breaking its community guidelines by posting the nefarious content. However, it has reinstated the channel since, and the videos that existed before the hack have reappeared.
Source: Supreme Court of India on YouTube
A Similar Scam Hit Filipino Musical Acts in July
This scam is not a lone incident. Many YouTube accounts have had their accounts compromised by hackers to livestream fake XRP videos to advertise scams that lure victims in by advertising tremendous returns. In reality, the links the videos ask users to click are phishing-related and capable of draining assets stored in users’ wallets.
Hackers using the same tactics broke into YouTube channels belonging to multiple Filipino artists in July. They used a doctored video of the Ripple CEO instructing viewers to invest in a scheme that was made to drain users’ funds. Artists like Ben&Ben, SB19, and Rico Blanco were affected by the hack.
Such incidents highlight the alarming rate at which phishing scams are growing within the crypto ecosystem in 2024.
