Ripple CTO David Schwartz exposes an elaborate phishing scam attempt by individuals posing as representatives from San Francisco-based crypto exchange Coinbase.
The Ripple CTO took to X to share a malicious phishing message he received from malefactors posing as Coinbase.
Scam Details
These bad actors claim to be representatives from the asset shielding department of the exchange, informing recipients that they are investigating a case.
Apparently, the scammers first call potential victims to inform them that an investigation is being conducted on their accounts. Afterward, they send users a follow-up email or text to verify the authenticity of the call they received.
The scammers include the contact number, case ID, and representative name in the message to trick users into believing they were on a call with a Coinbase customer representative.
Although the message looks legitimate and could be mistaken for an official message from Coinbase, a closer look at the text reveals its fraudulent nature. Notably, the message was sent from an unofficial email domain, an uncommon move for an organization like Coinbase.
This type of scam is a common practice involving individuals posing as representatives of trusted companies to obtain sensitive information from people. They first establish trust with potential victims before asking them to provide sensitive information that could lead to huge losses.
In cases like this, investors should immediately cut off all means of communication with the individuals by blocking them on any platform they have leveraged. In addition, it is important to not click on any links from the emails, even for curiosity’s sake.
Ripple CTO Warns
Notably, Schwartz, who received the malicious email yesterday, warned his more than 511,000 followers not to fall prey to the scam. He suggested that the scammers attempted to defraud him using the tactic.
Consequently, he exposed the phishing attempt to protect unsuspecting investors from being defrauded. Despite serving as the CTO of a top payments company like Ripple, Schwartz has always been active in exposing scam attempts.
Earlier this year, the Ripple exec warned users about an email from scammers claiming to be representatives from the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea. These bad actors messaged potential victims about listing a non-fungible token on the platform. The email includes a malicious link redirecting users to a fake OpenSea page.
Last year, Schwartz also debunked multiple fake XRP airdrops from scammers posing as Ripple. The scammers promoted most of these fraudulent airdrops shortly after Ripple secured a partial victory against the SEC in July 2023.
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