South Korea Arrests Three Over Fake FXRP Platform That Took $8.6M in XRP

How the alleged scheme worked

According to the investigation, the fraudulent platform went live shortly after Flare Network launched its FXRP token in October 2025. The website promoted itself as an investment opportunity and promised monthly returns of 1.5% to 1.8%, while also claiming that users’ original deposits would remain protected.

Police said the group built a broad online presence to make the project look credible. Investigators found false reference pages, blog posts, online articles, and promotional videos designed to create trust around the supposed investment service. Victims were reportedly told to route their XRP through overseas exchanges before sending funds to wallet addresses linked to the operation, a process that made the transfers appear more legitimate and helped distance the organizers from the assets.

The platform remained active for just over one week before going offline, authorities said.

Scale of losses and asset tracing

During that short period, 71 victims transferred around 3.4 million XRP to wallets controlled by the suspects, according to police. Based on the values cited by investigators, the stolen cryptocurrency was worth about $8.6 million.

Authorities said the confirmed losses averaged about $121,000 per victim, although the amounts varied widely. At least one victim is reported to have lost more than 1 billion won through the scheme.

Blockchain tracing later indicated that wallets tied to the suspects handled digital assets worth approximately $19 million during the operation. Officials said they were able to freeze around $12.1 million held on foreign exchanges, while the rest of the funds have not been recovered.

Investigation and arrests

The case began after an overseas cryptocurrency exchange flagged suspicious transactions. Investigators then traced the movement of funds and, within three days, froze wallets believed to contain most of the stolen assets.

The financial probe led to arrests in South Korea. Police took three men in their late twenties and thirties into custody. Two suspected organizers are facing aggravated fraud charges, according to the report.

Authorities also said another suspect remains overseas and is the subject of an international alert.

Broader context

The case highlights how fraudsters can quickly build seemingly credible crypto investment operations around newly launched tokens and use cross-border exchanges to complicate tracing. In this instance, investigators said the fake FXRP platform relied on promotional material, promised returns, and overseas transfer routes to draw in XRP holders before disappearing with the deposits.