Verified Brad Garlinghouse Scam Practical-Bench7741

Notice: This page is a freshly imported case study from the original repository. The original content was in a different format, and may not have relevant information for all sections. Please help restructure the content by moving information from the 'About' section to other sections, and add any missing information or sources you can find. If you are new here, please read General Tutorial on Wikis or Anatomy of a Case Study for help getting started.

Notice: This page contains sources which are not attributed to any text. The unattributed sources follow the initial description. Please assist by visiting each source, reviewing the content, and placing that reference next to any text it can be used to support. Feel free to add any information that you come across which isn't present already. Sources which don't contain any relevant information can be removed. Broken links can be replaced with versions from the Internet Archive. See General Tutorial on Wikis, Anatomy of a Case Study, and/or Citing Your Sources Guide for additional information. Thanks for your help!

Brad Garlinghouse Scam Post

Reddit user Practical-Bench7741 reports falling for a doubling scam from a user claiming to be Brad Garlinghouse and posting from a verified Twitter account. They sent 3,800 XRP with the expectation that it would be doubled, based on it being XRP's 10th anniversary. Unfortunately the scammer did not feel like doubling or returning their funds. They posted on Reddit to warn others to avoid this scam.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About None

"I was scrolling through Twitter when I came across this post (Post is still up). The post looked legit, and it made sense as to why they would do something like this for the community as it was Ripple's 10 year anniversary."

"Being an XRP fan since January 2021 and seeing this, I felt like had to hop in this "Airdrop".

I do remember as soon as I saw this post I had a gut feeling of "This is too good to be true".

However, I continued to proceed anyways.

The whole time I was going through this I was rushed by the fact that I was on a lunch break and had to get back to work. So I was trying to move fast.

I failed to realize that this was not the verified profile of Brad Garlinghouse. I trusted the checkmark instead.

I also failed to verify the website link not being the official Ripple website. This website has a countdown timer of how much XRP there is left to claim for the bonus. This added on to the feeling of being rushed."

"However since I felt like I was being rushed, I continued to put in the address and sent the XRP over.

I didn't realized that I got scammed until I went back to the website and saw that there was no XRP left to claim, the countdown reached 100M and then went back to 85M. At this moment I KNEW I got scammed."

"Hopefully the Mods won't take down my post this time. Just wanted to let you all know that I got scammed today. I want to share my story with you all in hopes of preventing something like this from happening to you. Never did I think I would fall for a scam but sadly I did."

"I knew what I was getting into when I started my crypto journey back in January 2021. I told myself "Only put in what you are willing to lose" so I was always mentally prepared to lose everything. I feel betrayed at the fact that someone out there would even think about scamming people.

I know the only one to blame for this is myself, this was my mistake. I just want to share this story with some of you out there, who may think they won't ever get scammed. Believe me, I am usually very observant when it comes to things like these. I normally can spot a scam from a mile away. This time was different.

I believe the fact that I saw a checkmark on the Twitter account alongside the fact that I felt like I was being rushed to send this over, lead me to getting scammed. Everything just aligned soo well for me to get scammed today."

"I've tried to reach out to the twitter account to have my crypto sent back to me as a last resort but I know my XRP will be gone forever."

"Not a single person commenting is addressing the biggest factor in why OP fell for the scam: the Twitter verification system. OP mentioned the person left up personal info and photos in old tweets. Sure enough, if you go backwards in their feed, you can see them. But they’re old and stopped posting in 2021. Then, in September, the XRP posts started. What probably happened is, the scammer either hacked or bought the old verified account, then changed the name and profile pic, and started posting about XRP. All the while keeping the Verified check mark. This is a major flaw in the verification system that you can change your identifying information but not need to get re-verified. Anyone with a twitter account should report the account and tweet asap."

"I lost approximately 3,800 XRP."

"3,800 XRP = $1,786"

"Every single thing about this is "classic scam". There's nothing unique, special or different about this scam in any way at all. Either you're an absolute idiot who has *no idea at all* about scams... or this is karma farming.

alongside the fact that I felt like I was being rushed to send this over, lead me to getting scammed Oh really? A scam added a time element to rush you into your decision?! How novel and original of them."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Verified Brad Garlinghouse Scam Practical-Bench7741

Date	Event	Description
October 25th, 2022 4:01:30 PM MDT	Scammer Wallet Setup	The scammer's wallet is set up.
October 26th, 2022 11:56:52 AM MDT	Ripple Sent To Scammer	3800 XRP is sent to the scammer's wallet.
October 26th, 2022 2:10:10 PM MDT	Another Victim	Another user sends 2,488.573668 XRP from Binance to get "doubled".
October 26th, 2022 5:27:09 PM MDT	Incident Posted	Reddit post about the user getting scammed.
October 26th, 2022 6:57:35 PM MDT	Post Still Active	The post is still active on Reddit.
October 27th, 2022 5:03:10 PM MDT	Post Removed	The post had already been removed from Reddit.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

"I lost approximately 3,800 XRP."

"3,800 XRP = $1,786"

The total amount lost has been estimated at $2,000 USD.

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.