Hackers have taken over the YouTube channels of a number of prominent Filipino artists and used them to spread an XRP scam.
On July 15, channels owned by famous Filipino singers were seen sharing a deepfake video of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse saying that XRP could go up to $4. People who fall for these kinds of scams are usually taken to fake sites where their funds is stolen.
Bitpinas, a local news source, said that the YouTube pages of musicians Rico Blanco, the boy band SB19, and the band Ben&Ben were hacked.
Filipino Artists Targeted By XRP Scam
Ben&Ben, an established nine-piece band with more than 3 million YouTube fans, revealed the hacking on July 15 on their official Facebook page. They said they were working to get back into their account, which had been used to video an XRP scam.
Later, Ben&Ben said that some of the accounts had been recovered, but attackers’ material could still be seen. At the moment, the fake XRP broadcast has stopped.
At the same time, boy band SB19, who have 3.6 million YouTube subscribers, said their channel had been hacked but quickly recovered it with management’s help and told the police.
Rico Blanco’s account, which has over 700,000 followers, was also hacked, but Blanco has not disclosed anything public about it yet.YouTube has punished the users that were hacked, saying that they broke the site’s rules.
This event shows that scammers are still using deepfake technology to use YouTube for illegal activities. It reminds me of similar cases involving Ripple’s Garlinghouse that were reported on Reddit as early as December 2023.
