The official YouTube channel of the Supreme Court of India has been hijacked by cryptocurrency scammers, who are promoting fraudulent investments through a fake livestream featuring Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
On September 20, the channel, which has over 217,000 subscribers, was rebranded to focus on Ripple and its associated cryptocurrency, XRP, as part of the scam.
Hackers’ Tactics
The hackers utilized the channel to broadcast a deceptive livestream that urged viewers to invest in XRP, promising unrealistic returns. They renamed the channel, altered its URL, and deleted all previous content from the original owner.
YouTube intervened and ultimately removed the compromised channel, stating, “This channel was removed because it violated our Community Guidelines.”
Phishing Risks
These fraudulent XRP livestreams often include phishing links that prompt users to connect their cryptocurrency wallets. If a victim approves the request, hackers gain full access to the wallet, allowing them to withdraw funds without further authentication.
This isn’t the first time YouTube has dealt with such scams. In April, they successfully neutralized a similar XRP scheme that involved a prominent gaming channel, DidYouKnowGaming. The hackers had similarly rebranded the account and erased all prior videos, but YouTube managed to recover it.
Increasing Frequency of Hacks
The frequency of YouTube account hacks is rising. In July, the popular band Ben&Ben saw their channel compromised for a fraudulent XRP advertisement. They alerted followers on their Facebook page, stating they were working on recovery, while the channel continued to livestream the scam.
YouTube’s actions have helped restore and recover several hacked accounts, but the challenge of securing these platforms against cryptocurrency-related scams remains a pressing issue.
