In July 15, a series of high-profile YouTube hacks targeting Filipino musicians surfaced, with the compromised accounts promoting an XRP scam. The hackers used deepfake technology to create a video featuring Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse predicting that XRP would reach $4. Local media outlet Bitpinas reported that popular bands Ben& Ben, SB19, and musician Rico Blanco were among those targeted.
Ben& Ben, a nine-piece musical group with over 3 million YouTube subscribers, informed their fans about the hack on Facebook and are working to regain control of their account. The hackers livestreamed the XRP scam video while the account was being recovered. Although some control has been regained, the hackers’ videos continued to play on the account for some time before being removed.
Similarly, Filipino boyband SB19, with 3.6 million YouTube followers, also faced a security breach but quickly recovered their account and reported the incident to the authorities. Musician Rico Blanco, with over 700,000 subscribers, had his account compromised as well. The exact details of the breach are unclear, but Reddit users have pointed out that Blanco’s account is currently restricted due to violations of YouTube’s policies.
The use of deepfake technology in this scam is not new, as scammers have been using fake videos of Brad Garlinghouse to promote fraudulent schemes on YouTube before. In December 2023, a fake video of Garlinghouse asking XRP holders to send their coins to a specific address in order to receive double the amount was reported by Reddit users. This ongoing challenge of combating digital fraud highlights the need for increased vigilance online.
As of now, Ripple’s cryptocurrency XRP is trading at around $0.53, marking a 25% increase in the past week. The token’s market cap has also seen a rise to around $29.7 billion during this time. Despite these gains, the threat of scams and hacks targeting users remains constant, underscoring the importance of safeguarding personal information and staying vigilant online.
