The official account of a well-known Indian news channel, News 24, with a substantial following of 1.3 million on Twitter, was hacked by unknown individuals who posted a fraudulent message about distributing 100,000,000 XRP coins.
According to the fake tweet posted by the hackers, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had decided to distribute XRP cryptocurrency to users as a token of appreciation for their unwavering support.
The message included a link that led to a suspicious website specifically designed to swindle unsuspecting users of their wallet contents.
In their tweet, the scammers declared that they were “proud to announce the opening of an annual giveaway of 100,000,000 XRP to every Ripple user to celebrate the power of XRP around the world.”
It is not the first time that impersonators of Brad Garlinghouse have perpetrated such fraudulent cryptocurrency giveaways on social media.
In 2020, a Ripple executive sued YouTube for spreading fake videos, thereby tarnishing the company’s reputation.
Similarly, scammers also announced the distribution of bitcoin and ether on behalf of Michael Saylor, the former CEO of MicroStrategy, and even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has warned his followers about the presence of his clones on Twitter who somehow managed to obtain the coveted blue tick verification symbol, which is a testament to their being Vitalik Buterin himself.