On May 29, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Funnull Technology Inc., a Philippines-based company, and its administrator, Liu Lizhi. The sanctions came due to their role in supporting “pig butchering” scams.
These scams defrauded American victims of more than $200 million. The average loss per victim was around $150,000. Funnull helped fraudsters by purchasing IP addresses from cloud service providers worldwide.
The company then sold these IP addresses to criminals. These criminals used them to host fake websites that tricked people into fraudulent crypto investments. The Treasury highlighted that Funnull is linked to the largest number of crypto scam sites reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
OFAC Reports 40% Rise in Scam Revenue in 2024
The “pig butchering” scam works by building fake relationships with victims. Scammers gain trust and then convince victims to invest in false opportunities. This type of scam has grown rapidly. In 2024 alone, illicit revenue from these scams rose nearly 40 percent compared to the previous year.
Authorities have warned the public about these schemes and made arrests related to them. Funnull also created domain names using an algorithm to produce many similar but unique website names.
This tactic helps scammers to quickly switch domains and IP addresses when legitimate companies try to shut down the fake sites. Such agility makes it harder for law enforcement and service providers to block these scams effectively.
Funnull Exposed as Enabler of Fraudulent Scams
The U.S. government emphasized that this action aims to disrupt criminal networks enabling such fraud. The Treasury stressed its commitment to protecting Americans from cyber scams. The department also supports the growth of a safe and legitimate digital asset market.
Funnull’s role as an enabler of these scams shows how some companies profit by providing services to criminals. By cutting off access to these services, authorities hope to reduce the damage caused by these large-scale frauds.
The Treasury’s move signals a strong stance against any entity that supports cybercriminal activity. It also raises awareness of ongoing efforts to safeguard digital platforms and protect victims.
