The US government has taken action against a Philippines-based digital infrastructure provider accused of playing a key role in a massive crypto scam that has resulted in over $200 million in reported losses from American victims. Funnull Technology and its administrator, Liu Lizhi, have been designated by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for their involvement in cyber-enabled investment fraud operations, commonly known as “pig butchering” scams.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender emphasized the importance of disrupting criminal enterprises like Funnull that enable these cyber scams and defraud hard-working Americans of their savings. According to the Treasury, Funnull provided technical infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of scam websites, many of which were involved in crypto fraud targeting Americans through fake investment schemes.
The company allegedly purchased IP addresses in bulk from cloud service providers and sold them to cybercriminals who used the infrastructure to host scam websites and other malicious content. Investigators found that Funnull’s infrastructure supported numerous platforms associated with crypto scam reports to the FBI, with victims reporting average losses exceeding $150,000.
These scams often rely on false identities and scripted conversations to gain victims’ trust before persuading them to invest in fake digital assets through counterfeit platforms promising falsified returns. Criminal organizations based in Southeast Asia are increasingly operating these schemes, sometimes using trafficked labor to carry them out. Once victims refuse to invest further, scammers abruptly cut off communication, causing the entire investment to disappear.
Funnull allegedly utilized domain generation algorithms to create deceptive website names in large volumes and distributed web design templates that assisted scammers in quickly launching new fraudulent sites. In 2024, the company was discovered to have altered a widely used code repository to redirect traffic from legitimate websites to scam and gambling platforms associated with money laundering networks.
Liu Lizhi, the administrator of Funnull, managed internal operations at the company, overseeing employee performance, task assignments, and domain usage linked to fraudulent activities such as phishing and gambling sites. In collaboration with the Treasury, the FBI plans to release a cybersecurity advisory containing technical details to aid in identifying infrastructure associated with Funnull.
Authorities caution that reported losses may significantly underestimate the actual extent of the damage, as many victims of online scams do not report the crimes they have fallen victim to. The crackdown on Funnull Technology highlights the government’s commitment to combating cyber fraud and protecting consumers from falling prey to these deceptive schemes.