The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Funnull Technology Inc., a company operating out of the Philippines, for allegedly fueling one of the largest cyber fraud ecosystems linked to cryptocurrency scams.
Revealed on Thursday, the move targets Funnull’s infrastructure, which officials say enabled “pig butchering” schemes—a manipulative tactic where scammers befriend victims under false pretenses to lure them into fraudulent crypto investments.
Scam Infrastructure Blamed for $200M in Losses
The Treasury stated that Funnull provided support for hundreds of thousands of fake crypto websites, with U.S. victims reporting over $200 million in combined losses. On average, individuals lost more than $150,000 through these elaborate cons.
The firm’s administrator, Chinese national Liu Lizhi, was also sanctioned for orchestrating infrastructure used by scammers and illicit gambling networks.
“This sends a clear message—we will not tolerate platforms that enable widespread cyber fraud against Americans,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender.
FBI Joins Effort to Dismantle Network
Sanctions were imposed under Executive Orders 13694 and 14144, with support from the FBI. A new FBI cyber advisory will assist private firms in identifying scam-linked IPs and websites.
Funnull allegedly:
- Acquired IP addresses in bulk and leased them to scam operators;
- Used automated domain generation to spawn fake crypto and banking sites;
- Distributed fraud templates imitating major financial institutions;
- In 2024, manipulated a software repository to divert traffic from legitimate websites to scams and gambling platforms.
Southeast Asian Crime Ties Under Scrutiny
The sanctions follow previous alerts from FinCEN linking crypto fraud rings to labor trafficking in Southeast Asia. Victims are often forced to operate scam call centers and digital deception schemes.
The case against Funnull highlights how cybercrime infrastructure providers are becoming prime targets in the global war against crypto fraud.
