The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Funnull Technology Inc., a Philippines-based company accused of providing the technical backbone for one of the world’s largest crypto scam networks.
Announced on Thursday, the sanctions target Funnull’s alleged role in enabling “pig butchering” scams—sophisticated online fraud tactics where scammers build trust with victims over time before convincing them to invest in fake crypto platforms.
$200M in Reported Losses: Infrastructure Behind Crypto Romance Scams
According to the Treasury, Funnull operated infrastructure that supported hundreds of thousands of fraudulent websites, many of which mimicked financial institutions to lure victims. U.S. losses linked to these scams reportedly exceed $200 million, with the average victim losing over $150,000.
The company’s Chinese national administrator, Liu Lizhi, was also sanctioned. Authorities say he oversaw operations that assigned scam domains, managed server infrastructure, and facilitated illicit gambling and phishing campaigns.
“This is part of a broader crackdown on the architecture that powers cybercrime,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender. “Our actions show we will pursue those who enable online fraud targeting Americans.”
Cybercrime Meets Organized Fraud
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued the sanctions under Executive Orders 13694 and 14144, in coordination with the FBI. The bureau is also releasing a cyber advisory to help U.S. companies detect Funnull-related sites and infrastructure.
Investigators revealed that Funnull:
- Bought bulk IP addresses from cloud providers and resold them to scammers;
- Leveraged domain generation algorithms to create vast webs of scam websites;
- Offered design templates to mimic banking and investment platforms;
- Tampered with a developer code repository in 2024, rerouting traffic from real sites to scam operations linked to Chinese money laundering networks.
Ties to Southeast Asia’s Scam Networks
The Treasury’s actions build on a 2023 FinCEN alert that warned of crypto scams tied to Southeast Asian organized crime rings. These groups often exploit victims of labor trafficking, forcing them to run online fraud operations from scam compounds.
Funnull now joins a growing list of entities sanctioned for enabling transnational crypto fraud, with the U.S. signaling further crackdowns ahead.
