A recent phishing scam has targeted Coinbase users, with scammers impersonating the popular cryptocurrency exchange and promoting a fabricated XRP staking program. Leonidas, a prominent YouTube influencer and XRP supporter, was the first to draw attention to the scam.
The scam email claimed that Coinbase intended to introduce an XRP staking program in response to user demand, initially as a trial. Early users were promised an inflated annual percentage yield (APY) of 19% to 27.2%. In an attempt to create a sense of urgency, the scammers capped the number of trial participants at 9,900.
The email contained a link supposedly for joining the staking program, which could potentially harbor malware. Users are strongly advised against clicking such links.
John E Deaton, an attorney who is representing thousands of XRP holders in the ongoing Ripple Vs. SEC lawsuit, also took to Twitter to warn his community, stating:
Scammers are sophisticated. You may get an email that looks legit coming from coinbase, kraken, Uphold etc. They locked me out of my account when I was home on my wifi, then immediately sent me a valid looking email and called me to “walk” me through the link. I didn’t.
The prevalence of scams targeting the cryptocurrency sector has been on the rise, with the FBI reporting an increase in losses from $907 million in 2021 to $2.57 billion in 2022.
Coinbase and XRP
It’s important to remember that even if XRP may be searched for and found on Coinbase, trading and other services pertaining to the currency are still unavailable. Coinbase has sided with Ripple in their appeal against the U.S. SEC, but the exchange still has no intentions to restore the suspended services.
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, stated last month that the exchange would need to perform its own due diligence before considering the reintroduction of crypto services for XRP, even if Ripple secures a favorable ruling in the case.
