Smart Moves: Ripple CTO Brushes Off Phishing Threats

In a recent X post, Ripple CTO David Schwartz confidently shared that he remains impervious to phishing scams. Despite the pervasive and increasingly sophisticated nature of scams on social media, Schwartz asserted that he is too savvy to succumb to such tactics.

The victim recounted an incident where an assailant, likely a phone phisher, posed as his bank and requested his bank details. Unable to identify the scam, he suffered a loss exceeding $8000 in assets. Cory Doctorow detailed the extended narrative of the scam, unfolding during the Christmas holidays.

Expressing empathy for the victim, David Schwartz remarked, “It’s a situation that could happen to anyone.” Schwartz’s statement followed the recent disclosure from Chris Larsen, the Co-Founder of Ripple, who revealed that he had suffered a personal loss of 213 million XRP tokens valued at $112.5 million due to a hacking incident. Larsen explained that the attack initiated with “unauthorized access” to some of his accounts.

In a prior occurrence, artificial intelligence (AI) software was employed to clone Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, leading to a scam where XRP users were deceived into transferring their tokens to a specified address with the false assurance of doubling their deposits. In reaction, Garlinghouse issued a warning about the proliferation of deceptive “deepfake scam videos.

Ripple Vigilance Against Scams Revealed

Following that, Larsen stated that the assault targeted his individual accounts. Upon detecting “unauthorized access” to some of his accounts, Larsen implemented defensive actions and alerted the relevant exchanges to suspend the impacted accounts.

Despite misconceptions in the reports framing it as a targeted assault on Ripple, both CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Larsen emphasized that the security of Ripple wallets remained uncompromised.

Earlier in the year, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer issued a cautionary alert regarding a developing scam scheme that is specifically targeting unsuspecting users of OpenSea. The CTO shared a screenshot of an email sent to one of the victims targeted by the attacker, underscoring their awareness and vigilance against the proliferation of such fraudulent activities.

The author’s views are for reference only and shall not constitute any investment advice. Please ensure you fully understand and assess the products and associated risks before purchasing.