Ripple Warns Community on “Too Good to be True” Deals

American blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs Inc has warned its community members about offers that are “too good to be true.”

Scams in the crypto ecosystem are evolving by the day. However, there are obvious strategies adopted by some of these fraudsters that seem conspicuous enough for any vigilant crypto user to spot. Ripple has identified and shared some of these methods with its community as part of its safety campaign.

Caution Against Fake Offers

The post shared by Ripple came with a screenshot showing a collage of banners designed with different forms of Ripple – XRP giveaways. One underlying denominator for these giveaways is their connection to Ripple Labs and the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Brad Garlinghouse.

Notably, associating the fake XRP giveaway to Ripple and Brad lends a sense of legitimacy that might convince unsuspecting users to fall for these scams. 

While the headline banner shows the predominance of XRP giveaways, Ripple revealed that the scammers also present fraudulent investment and business opportunities, fake job offers, online data and blackmail emails as a means to exploit their targets.

With the positive publicity Ripple Labs and XRP received over the past four months since Judge Analisa Torres’ first ruling that the cryptocurrency is not in itself an investment contract, the activities of scammers have intensified.

Ripple echoed the popular saying that if the offer on social media or elsewhere sounds “too good to be true,” then it probably is, and users should avoid such offerings.

Identifying and Preventing Scams

As a proactive way of safeguarding its community, Ripple Labs shared the official X handles of its corporate accounts as well as those of its top executives including CEO Brad Garlinghouse, CTO David Schwartz, General Counsel Stuart Alderoty, and President Monica Long. 

Besides the obvious impersonation from the fraudulent accounts whose handles are typically an alteration of the real handles, Ripple said requests to send money or for personal account information are obvious red flags.

With the rise in Deepfake ads, as previously highlighted by the company, Ripple Labs advised that for promos that appear legitimate on social media, users should consult with the verified social media channels before engaging with such offerings.

The safety campaign remain a collective effort for Ripple and its executives some of whom have previously cautioned community members on this subject.