Seoul police say the total could rise to nearly $20 million; two suspects detained, a third remains at large.

A fraudulent staking website impersonating the Flare Network allegedly stole 3.4 million XRP — worth approximately $8.5 million — from 71 investors in South Korea during 2025, according to Seoul police.

The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police said the scammers operated the fake investment platform from October 16 to October 23, 2025. Victims were lured with promises of monthly returns between 1.5% and 1.8% if they deposited their XRP, South Korean news outlet Chosun reported Thursday. Such rates, while modest-sounding compared to the outlandish figures promoted in many crypto scams, are designed to appear plausible against legitimate staking yields and thereby lower victims' suspicion.

Investigators believe the total losses could be significantly higher than what has been substantiated so far. Authorities told Chosun the scammers may have stolen as much as $19 million worth of XRP.

Suspects and Legal Proceedings

Two men have been detained on aggravated fraud charges. Police have obtained an arrest warrant and requested an Interpol Red Notice for a third accomplice believed to be hiding at an unknown overseas location, Korea JoonAng Daily reported.

"We will strictly respond to cyber frauds involving cryptocurrency under a zero-tolerance policy," a police official said, urging investors to exercise caution against unverified investment claims.

How the Scam Worked

The alleged scammers built a fraudulent website using the name of Flare Network, a legitimate blockchain project with deep roots in the XRP ecosystem. Flare conducted one of the largest token airdrops in crypto history, distributing FLR tokens to XRP holders starting in early 2023, which gave the project widespread name recognition among the very investor community the scammers targeted. To attract victims, they disseminated false advertising across Naver blogs, online news articles, Wikipedia, and YouTube, according to Chosun. South Korea ranks consistently among the world's largest retail cryptocurrency trading markets by volume, making its investor base a frequent target for fraudulent schemes.

Flare Network, which debuted in early 2023 with a focus on real-world applications, reported over $160 million in total value locked as of late March 2026, with more than 887,000 active addresses.

Broader Context of Crypto Scams

The case comes amid a surge in cryptocurrency-related fraud worldwide. Crypto analytics firm Chainalysis reported in January that as much as $17 billion in cryptocurrency was lost globally to scams and frauds in 2025. The firm noted that criminals increasingly relied on impersonation tactics and artificial intelligence to industrialize their approach to targeting victims. Brand-impersonation scams like the Flare Network case exploit the difficulty average investors face in distinguishing legitimate platforms from convincing clones, particularly when fraudulent sites are promoted through trusted channels such as major search results and video platforms.

Source: CoinDesk