Despite YouTube's many aggressive actions against cryptocurrency-related content, the world'due south most pop video-hosting website is apparently having trouble discovering a major scam account involving crypto.

On March 23, the crypto community spotted a artificial YouTube account impersonating Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of major blockchain company Ripple, in gild to promote a fake airdrop scam.

Video containing fake XRP airdrop clarification was uploaded on YouTube on March xix

The credible scam business relationship has effectually 277,000 subscribers and contains only i video, which promotes a fake giveaway in the third-biggest cryptocurrency, XRP. Uploaded on YouTube on March 19, the video description promotes a nonexistent airdrop of 50 1000000 XRP tokens and has clustered over 85,000 views as of press time.

While the video itself is not fake and is a real interview that Garlinghouse gave in February 2022, the scam lies in the video description. The Ripple exec hasn't nevertheless reacted to the scam warning on Twitter so far despite reports mentioning him.

Fake XRP giveaway promotion on Youtube. Source: YouTube

Specifically, the video description presents users with a bogus airdrop contest taking place from March 20 till March 25, according to the video clarification. The YouTube scammer asks users to ship between 2,000 XRP to 500,000 XRP in social club to "participate" in exchange for firsthand airdrop of xx,000 to five one thousand thousand XRP. For example, the fraudster promises to ship 2.five million XRP back in exchange for sending 250,000 XRP ($forty,000) to his/her crypto accost. As of press time, the accost has 5,135 XRP ($800).

Scammers purchasing YouTube channels with big numbers of subscribers could exist a reason

A co-founder of crypto podcast SPQR Media, who showtime reported on the YouTube scam on his Twitter account on March 23, emphasized in a recent tweet that the scam channel is still upwardly and running and is receiving funding for promotion on YouTube. Twitter user @Andy_SPQR told Cointelegraph that he noticed the scam page last night every bit an ad popped upwards on his YouTube feed.

The SPQR co-founder highlighted that he immediately tweeted to report on the credible scam equally the YouTube account had a "huge number of subs but merely i video," while the clarification promised a free XRP airdrop scam. Co-ordinate to the executive, the reason for the scam is that YouTube allows users to purchase channels from each other. He said:

"In my opinion I call back what'southward happening is these scammers are purchasing YouTube channels with large numbers of subscribers then deleting all content and uploading that video. I think that's how they are able to maintain a presence on YouTube."

YouTube started an apparent crypto state of war in tardily 2022

The news comes on the heels of YouTube continuing its apparent war against crypto content makers on the platform.

Equally Cointelegraph reported on March 10, YouTube deleted some other batch of crypto-related videos from 2 carve up crypto channels. In late 2022, YouTube was likewise aggressively deleting crypto content from some of the biggest players in the manufacture. As reported by Cointelegraph, YouTube subsequently admitted that some of its deletions were a mistake, while a lot of crypto YouTubers expressed intention to move to blockchain-based video hosting platforms to share their content.