- The anatomy of a scam
- Crypto scam epidemic
The wallets of XRP users are currently being drained with the help of a new sophisticated phishing campaign that is based on the distribution of fake non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
A recent alert from XRP blockchain explorer Bithomp states that scammers are using fake “reward” and “payout” tokens to trick investors into authorizing malicious transactions.
A single user lost a staggering $15,000 to the exploit in such a way.
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The screenshots shared by Bithomp show that the transaction type was logged as an NFTokenAcceptOffer.
The victim believed they were claiming a digital asset called “Ripple Payout Token #7357”.
The code executed a massive withdrawal valued at roughly $15,000 from the victim’s balance and transferred it to the scammer’s wallet. Obviously, the user ended up with a worthless bogus NFT.
The anatomy of a scam
Bad actors exploit the low transaction fees on the XRP Ledger to mint hundreds of such fraudulent NFTs every single day.
The scammers use highly official-sounding terminology to give the scam some sort of urgency and legitimacy.
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There is a massive stream of new tokens with the names of the likes of “Securing XRPL Proof”, “XRP Earning Permit”, “XRP Cashback Card”, “Ripple Benefit Badge”, “Boosting Ripple Card” and “Ripple Grant Voucher.”
The scammers distribute these tokens to active XRPL wallets or promote them on social media platforms,
The site prompts them to sign a transaction once they connect their wallets.
Crypto scam epidemic
The scale of cryptocurrency fraud has reached unprecedented levels, with a recent FBI report showing that cryptocurrency-related fraud accounted for the most reported losses among all scam categories last year. Americans lost over $11.3 billion to crypto-related scams in 2025.
A 2026 report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that a record $17 billion was stolen globally through crypto scams. Impersonation scams continue to reign supreme, and the rise of generative AI makes it more challenging to fight the scammers.