Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted on Tuesday that he and the company have settled a lawsuit they filed against YouTube over a flood of videos in which scammers uploaded clips of Garlinghouse to promote various crypto hustles. The phenomenon of scammers using social media to hijack the names and images of prominent executives has been pervasive not only in the cryptocurrency world, but in the business world in general. Impostors have also sought to impersonate high profile CEOs like Elon Musk and Richard Branson on social media in order to rip off the public. Ripple and Garlinghouse filed the lawsuit against YouTube last April, claiming the Google-owned company turned a blind eye to the problem, and even profited from it by letting the scammers purchase keywords to help them target crypto enthusiasts. In a series of tweets, Garlinghouse said the settlement would result in Ripple and YouTube working together "to prevent, detect and take down these scams." He also noted the company has been using a forensics company to track stolen funds related to the scams, but added that social media companies needed to do more or "it's still just whack-a-mole."

Last year, @Ripple and I sued @YouTube for failing to enforce its own policies by allowing fake accounts (impersonating my/Ripple's verified accounts) to conduct XRP giveaway scams. We've now come to a resolution to work together to prevent, detect and take down these scams. 1/3

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 9, 2021