Ripple CTO David Schwartz Warns of New Scam Targeting XRP Holders

David Schwartz warns that fake airdrops, impersonation accounts, and malicious NFT buy offers are being used to drain XRP Ledger wallets as scam activity rises.

XRP

41d ago

Fact Check

The claim is strongly supported by David Schwartz's own X post (x.com/JoelKatz/status/2054722017321173421), which is the primary source and directly confirms the warning about scams impersonating Ripple figures and promoting fake XRP rewards. Two independent crypto news outlets — cryptonews.com and crypto.news — published corroborating articles on the same date (May 14, 2026), adding detail about wallet drainer scripts, AI deepfakes, and the scale of impersonation accounts. The claim's description of 'malicious NFT-related wallet prompts' aligns with the wallet drainer mechanism described in sources. All core elements of the claim are verified.

Summary

David Schwartz, Ripple’s former chief technology officer, warned that XRP Ledger users are facing a surge in scam activity, including fake airdrops, giveaway posts, impersonation accounts, and malicious NFT buy offers. In one reported case, a user lost 6,000 XRP after being promised their funds would be doubled. Scammers are using misleading NFTs and hidden offers to trick users into signing transactions that can drain XRP or other assets, while fake profiles on Instagram, Telegram, and other platforms impersonate Schwartz and other XRPL figures. Schwartz and other community members urged users to ignore unsolicited offers, avoid unknown links, and cancel suspicious wallet offers immediately.

Terms & Concepts

XRP Ledger (XRPL): The blockchain network used for XRP transactions and related on-chain activity.
NFT Buy Offer: A transaction type that can be abused by scammers to get users to sign harmful wallet actions.
seed phrase: A wallet recovery phrase that controls access to crypto funds; it should never be shared.