Last October, a fake staking site impersonating Flare Network stole 3.4 million XRP from 71 investors. Seoul police put the value at around $8.5 million. The site ran for just eight days before shutting down.
The scammers promised monthly returns of 1.5% to 1.8% and claimed the principal was safe. Investors were told to move their XRP out of local exchanges and send it to wallets controlled by the scammers through offshore platforms. After that, the money was gone.
How the fraud was built
The operation was not just a simple fake page. Police say the scammers spread false information on portal blogs, online news articles, and Wikipedia. They also produced YouTube videos using a paid stand-in to make the project look real. The fake site disappeared on October 23, and the people behind it vanished.
The site also used the name FXRP, which made it look connected to Flare Network. That extra layer of fake legitimacy likely helped persuade people to send funds.
Police tracked the funds
Seoul police said they traced assets linked to the fraud worth 27.3 billion won, or about $18.8 million. Of that, they froze 17.3 billion won. Two people were sent to prosecutors on aggravated fraud charges. Another person is being prosecuted for forgery related to the case.
Police also issued 54 search and seizure warrants and arrested one suspect who had returned from abroad and was hiding. The recovery effort is ongoing, but it is unclear how much of the stolen XRP will be returned.
Warning for investors
South Korean police have promised a zero-tolerance approach to cryptocurrency scams this year. They are warning investors to check official sources before sending money to any staking platform. This case shows how quickly a fake site can appear, collect money, and shut down.
If something promises guaranteed returns, that alone should raise red flags. In crypto, the word guaranteed rarely means what it seems to mean. Always verify the project, the team, and the official channels before risking funds.
