Eight days, $8.5 million: a fake site impersonating Flare Network drained 71 XRP investors

Seoul Metropolitan Police uncovered a fraud scheme: a fake staking site posing as the Flare Network blockchain project and its FXRP asset stole 3.4 million XRP — roughly $8.5 million — from 71 investors over just eight days, from October 16 to 23. Victims were promised 1.5-1.8% monthly returns and a "guaranteed" principal, CoinDesk reports.

The scheme leaned entirely on borrowing a real project's name: the scammers promoted the fake site through Naver blogs, news articles, a Wikipedia entry, and YouTube videos — building an entire web of fake "social proof" around a product that didn't exist. Victims were convinced to withdraw XRP from local exchanges and transfer it to scammer-controlled wallets via offshore platforms.

“We will strictly respond to cyber frauds involving cryptocurrency under a zero-tolerance policy”

— Seoul Metropolitan Police official

• Two suspects have been detained on aggravated fraud charges
• A third accomplice is believed to be overseas — police obtained an arrest warrant and requested an Interpol Red Notice
• Police traced and froze $18.8 million in assets across wallets linked to the group — well above the 71 victims' direct losses
• The real Flare Network project and FXRP token have no connection to the scheme — their name was used without the team's knowledge

A Seoul police official directly urged investors to be wary of unverified yield promises. The scheme shows a familiar set of red flags — a fixed "guaranteed" return, borrowing a known project's name, and promotion through seemingly independent sources like Wikipedia and blogs — the same patterns we covered in a separate piece on how crypto scams work in 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.