Ripple's development arm, RippleX, has issued an urgent public warning regarding a sharp increase in impersonation accounts on social media platforms, primarily Telegram. The company explicitly stated that it does not operate any official Telegram channel and that any account claiming to represent Ripple on the platform is fraudulent.
Scammers are posing as Ripple recruiters, customer support agents, and other official representatives. To appear legitimate, they frequently misuse the company's branding and public content, including images and videos of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. These fraudulent accounts often lure victims with fake cryptocurrency giveaways that appear to be associated with Ripple, ultimately directing them to malicious websites or wallet addresses designed to steal funds.
"We’re seeing an increase in impersonation accounts on Telegram, including accounts posing as Ripple recruiters, customer support, and other representatives. Ripple does not have an official Telegram channel. Any account claiming as such is not legitimate. Our team will not..." RippleX stated in a tweet on March 20, 2026. The company emphasized that its legitimate team will never contact users directly through unofficial channels to request payments, personal information, or login credentials.
This warning comes amid significant growth for the XRP Ledger ecosystem. Recent data shows the network now has over 7.7 million non-empty wallet addresses, setting a new record. The distribution includes more than 5.66 million wallets holding less than 100 XRP, over two million wallets holding between 100 and 100,000 XRP, and more than 32,000 wallets containing balances above 100,000 XRP.
Ripple attributes the surge in scam activity to this rising adoption and the increased market visibility following regulatory clarity in the U.S., where authorities have classified XRP as a non-security. The company advises the community to remain vigilant and verify all communications through its official platforms to avoid falling victim to these sophisticated impersonation schemes.
