Police nab three, seek red notice for one over $8.5 million crypto scam

Three people have been arrested and one has been red noticed on suspicion of defrauding investors out of 12.3 billion won ($8.55 million) in an alleged cryptocurrency scam, police said Thursday.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the suspects set up a fraudulent website called "Fxrpntwork.com" and duped 71 investors into depositing approximately 3.4 million Ripple coins worth 12.3 billion won in October 2025.

The group promoted the fake platform through portal blog posts, online articles and YouTube videos, falsely promising guaranteed principal along with fixed monthly returns of 1.5 to 1.8 percent, the police agency said.

Victims were instructed to transfer their tokens from domestic exchanges to designated wallets via an overseas exchange. Once the funds were transferred, the suspects shut down the site and went into hiding.

Police said they launched an investigation in October of last year following intelligence on rising crypto fraud cases. Investigators managed to limit investor losses by tracing the transaction paths and freezing the suspects' crypto wallet within three days of receiving the initial tip-off.

The ringleader was apprehended at a hideout in Korea upon returning from abroad, after which two accomplices were arrested at their hideouts while fleeing across the country. One of them was recently referred to prosecutors.

Police also obtained an arrest warrant and requested an Interpol Red Notice for the last accomplice remaining at large overseas.

"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.

Yonhap