YouTube is being sued by Ripple, a Cryptocurrency company, in relation to what it being referred to as an ‘inexplicable failure’ to prevent cybercriminals impersonating its CEO.
In the lawsuit submitted. Ripple has stated that the video platform has allowed adverts to be displayed ;that are their CEO to promote fake cryptocurrency giveaways. YouTube have, so far, failed to address Ripple’s complaints about the adverts. You can read the filing here.
Ripple, is an exchange network for the digital currency XRP, which serves individuals who wish to send money internationally. The group claims that it submitted approximately 350 complaints in relation to one fake account since November 2019 with no response from YouTube. Ripple claim that YouTube not only ignored the complaints but even gave an official verification badge to, and accepted paid adverts from, the account that included many examples of impersonation. Due to this Rippled received a many complaints from account holders who believed that the company had stolen their money or hacked their accounts.
The alleged impersonation involved cybercriminals setting up official-sounding accounts for Ripple and its CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Using these the distributed videos offering big XRP rewards in exchange for smaller initial payments, billing viewers who thought they were watching Ripple’s channel.
There are other allegations made by Ripple in the claim submitted such as YouTube allowing trademark infringement for ignoring complaints and continuing to accept money for the scamming adverts. ads. Ripple commented on the filing saying that it is taking the legal action in order to “prompt an industry wide-behavior change and set the expectation of accountability.”
It went on: “It’s time to end this unacceptable behavior and protect our friends, family members and consumers everywhere. YouTube and other big technology and social media platforms must be held accountable for not implementing sufficient processes for fighting these scams. We are here for our community and for everyone, everywhere. Please stay safe, stay healthy and know that actions are being taken to protect you.”
Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, in an interview with Bloomberg, defended the decision to file a lawsuit against YouTube. He said that the streaming platform has not moved to address the scams involving Ripple’s token, XRP, and which are using the image of well-known crypto space figures such as Garlinghouse and the co-creator of the Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin.
YouTube reacted to the filing by releasing a statement that said “we take abuse of our platform seriously, and take action quickly when we detect violations of our policies, such as scams or impersonation.”