Scammers have stolen 1.543 million XRP through fraudulent videos on YouTube, according to the ledger tracking firm Xrplorer.
The company says 60% of the stolen XRP came from users on Coinbase, with 25% coming from private wallets. Binance, however, has been the most-used virtual asset service provider for laundering the stolen assets, responsible for washing 508,000 of the 839,000 XRP that has already been laundered, according to Xrplorer. Crypto exchange NiceChange is second with 273,000 XRP laundered.
The fake videos typically impersonate known tech figures or companies, claiming that users can send a small amount of cryptocurrency to an address to receive more in return.
Xrplorer CEO Thomas Silkjær says Coinbase and other exchanges have an opportunity to be proactive and warn users when they try to move assets to potential scam accounts. The firm is attempting to flag the accounts before the XRP is swapped away from the reach of law enforcement.
They don't convert it to USD/FIAT, but to other cryptocurrencies. The more it is swapped through exchanges and swap services, the harder it is for law enforcement to keep tracing it. That's why we work hard to:
— XRP Forensics (XRPLF) (@xrpforensics) August 16, 2020
3) Monitor ALL activity of flagged accounts and all the XRP being sent to and from them, to manually reach out to exchanges, etc.
We are baffled how little most exchanges are willing to do to protect users and help clean up this space. All illicit use is bad for everyone!
— XRP Forensics (XRPLF) (@xrpforensics) August 16, 2020
Ripple filed a lawsuit against YouTube in April, alleging the site’s “deliberate inaction” is making it easy for scammers to steal cryptocurrency.
The lawsuit demands compensation for damages to the Ripple brand and reputation due to YouTube’s failure to stop fraudsters who are impersonating the global payments company and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse.
Later that month, YouTube introduced a new fact-checking system to help viewers in the US determine whether certain videos contain misleading information.
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