Seoul police have arrested three members of a fraudulent group that stole 3.4 million XRP tokens (12.3 billion won or approximately $8.5 million) from 71 investors, according to local media reports.
The perpetrators posed as developers of the Flare Network ecosystem and promoted a fake XRP staking service from Ripple, promising returns of 1.5–1.8% per month with guaranteed refunds.
How the Scheme Operated
In October 2025, the fraudsters launched the website Fxrpntwork.com, which closely mimicked the official Flare Network and FXRP token site.
To create an appearance of legitimacy, they preemptively placed false information in blogs, on Wikipedia, news sites, and YouTube, where the project was advertised by a hired actor.
Investors were persuaded to transfer XRP from local exchanges through foreign platforms to wallets controlled by the fraudsters. Just eight days after the launch (on October 23), the site went offline, and the organizers disappeared.
Investigation Ongoing
The investigation began after a foreign crypto exchange reported a surge in similar fraudulent activities. Police conducted over 50 searches, arresting two suspected organizers and an accomplice, while securing an Interpol “red notice” for a fourth suspect hiding abroad.
Investigators tracked asset movements totaling 27.3 billion won ($18.8 million) and managed to freeze cryptocurrency worth 17.3 billion won, although about 10 billion won had already been withdrawn. This suggests the actual scale of the fraud could significantly exceed the confirmed $8.5 million.
Earlier, in January, Korean authorities discovered the disappearance of 22 BTC (~$1.4 million) from a cold wallet at the Gangnam police station in Seoul. The coins were seized by law enforcement in 2021.
