Have you noticed classified ads for an XRP cryptocurrency “airdrop” on platforms like YouTube and X in recent months?They feature Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse explaining how other people can get XRP for free if they first send XRP to a specific crypto wallet. But this is a scam that employs synthetic intelligence to make it look like Garlinghouse is saying things he never said.
I first saw the fraudulent classified ads on YouTube in November, which is uncommon since the social media platform has a number of safeguards in place to protect against apparent scams. But recently, I’ve seen a lot of advertising on X, formerly known as Twitter, which takes up some of the classified ads in my feed.
Classified ads appear to use artificial intelligence to make it look like Garlinghouse is saying things he didn’t say. And it’s kind of convincing until you look at his mouth and realize that the lip movements don’t quite match what he’s saying.
Garlinghouse himself proved in November that the classified ads were scams.
“There has been an accumulation of deepfake scam videos (e. g. , below) overlaying new words with old videos of Ripple’s occasions (@YouTube, are you still asleep at the wheel?). Reminder: don’t trust, check (all approved posts will only come from official Ripple accounts),” Garlinghouse tweeted on Nov. 16, 2023.
New technologies that allow anyone to model a person’s voice and create a video that makes it look like they’re saying things they’ve never said have accelerated in recent years. And many other people are scammed through advertisements, as shown in the testimonials of other people who said they lost cash in X.
“I just got scammed 2k on xrp in an ad here on X. Saying they were going to overtake me. I’ve searched. . . ,” wrote one user on X.
X has struggled in the past with fraudulent crypto ads, some of which even used photographs of X’s owner, Elon Musk. And it’s unclear when the company will take crypto scams seriously, as they have a very big problem.
X did not promptly respond to questions emailed Tuesday about why Ripple’s fraudulent loose classified ads appear to have spiked recently. I’ll update this post if I have an answer. But for now, just know who is promising to send you crypto if sending you crypto first is almost in fact committing a scam.
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