South Korean Authorities Bust $8.5 Million Fake XRP Staking Scheme

South Korean authorities have dismantled an $8.5 million fake XRP staking scheme, arresting three individuals involved in the scam.

The perpetrators posed as developers of the Flare Network ecosystem and created a website called Fxrpntwork.com that mimicked the official Flare Network site.

They promised investors returns of 1.5-1.8% per month with guaranteed refunds, but instead stole 3.4 million XRP tokens from 71 investors.

The investigation began after a foreign crypto exchange reported suspicious activity, and police conducted over 50 searches, arresting two suspected organizers and an accomplice.

While the authorities were able to freeze cryptocurrency worth 17.3 billion won, about 10 billion won had already been withdrawn, suggesting the actual scale of the fraud could exceed $8.5 million.