Fake staking site drains $8.5 million in XRP from dozens of investors promising easy yield

Fake staking site drains $8.5 million in XRP from dozens of investors promising easy yield

Seoul police say the amount of the scam might rise to nearly $20 million. Two alleged scammers were detained and a third remains at-large.

A fake Flare Network staking website in South Korea allegedly stole 3.4 million XRP, worth about $8.5 million, from 71 investors in 2025, according to Seoul police. Authorities say the scammers, who used the name of the legitimate Flare blockchain project and promoted it through blogs, news articles, Wikipedia and YouTube, may have taken as much as $19 million in XRP. Two suspects have been detained on aggravated fraud charges, while police have secured an arrest warrant and requested an Interpol Red Notice for a third accomplice, amid broader warnings about rising global crypto scams and impersonation schemes.

A fake Flare Network staking site robbed 71 investors of 3.4 million XRP worth roughly $8.5 million last year, Seoul police said.

Two men were detained on aggravated fraud charges and a third alleged scammer is on the loose, South Korean news outlet Chosun reported Thursday.

Authorities said investigations are ongoing as they believe the scam is much larger than they have been able to prove so far, adding that the scammers might have robbed up to $19 million worth of XRP, Chosun stated.

The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police said the scammers ran the fake investment site from Oct. 16 to Oct. 23 and tricked victims into believing that if they deposited “Rippke, you will receive a return of 1.5% to 1.8% every month,” Chosun said.

Police officials investigating the case said the alleged scammers created the fraudulent website using the name of a genuine blockchain project. They then disseminated false advertising through Naver blogs, online news articles, Wikipedia and YouTube, the news outlet said.

Flare Network, which has deep roots in the XRP ecosystem, debuted in early 2023 announcing it was driving the development of real-world applications. The network reported over $160 million in total value locked as of late March 2026, with more than 887,000 active addresses.

Police have obtained an arrest warrant and requested an Interpol Red Notice for the third accomplice who is still at-large at an unknown overseas location, according to Korea JoonAng Daily.

"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, the daily added.

Crypto analytics firm Chainalysis said in January that as much as $17 billion in crypto was lost globally to scams and frauds in 2025. Criminals increasingly leaned into impersonation tactics and artificial intelligence to industrialize the way they hunt victims, the firm added.

1Crypto for Advisors: Is the Clarity Act dead?34 minutes ago 2CME's Duffy warns an overlooked tax risk looms over U.S. perpetual futures1 hour ago 3The economics behind Aave proposal to ditch 6 chains that earn loose change in revenue1 hour ago 4JPMorgan says fading Clarity Act odds weigh on crypto outlook1 hour ago 5Institutional crypto trading hits a record 72% as Wall Street calms crypto's wild swings1 hour ago 6Ethereum enters its second decade after a year of upheaval at the foundation1 hour ago 7Telegram faces terror-related legal action in Australia one day after founder is charged by Russia3 hours ago 8Bitcoin ETFs on track for the smallest monthly inflows ever4 hours ago 9South Korea plans to tax crypto gains over $1,740 as political battle moves to parliament4 hours ago 10Crypto's resilience tested as oil rises after Iran strikes, Fed signals rates could still rise4 hours ago

Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer

Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer

Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.

Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.

Why it matters:

Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.

Crypto exchange Luno cuts 20% of staff amid automation push and retail trading slumps

Stablecoin firm Brale says new protocol can remove a major hurdle to scaling custom tokens

The inside story of how a hike in Hong Kong changed crypto trading forever