Philippine Company Penalized for Accusations of Supporting Cryptocurrency Pyramid Schemes Using Their Computing Resources
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced sanctions against a Philippines-based company, Funnull Technology Inc., for its role in aiding large-scale cryptocurrency investment scams, specifically pig butchering schemes [1][2][5]. These scams manipulate victims into investing in non-existent or fraudulent cryptocurrency opportunities, resulting in significant financial losses [3][5].
Funnull has served as a crucial infrastructure provider for criminal networks, often referred to as part of the "Triad Nexus," which encompasses over 200,000 unique hostnames connected to investment scams, deceptive trading apps, and suspicious gambling platforms [2]. The company facilitated such activities by acquiring IP addresses and other internet infrastructure from major cloud service providers and then reselling them to operators of fraudulent investment schemes, enabling them to host duplicate websites and applications that mimicked authentic services [2][3].
The actions of Funnull Technology Inc. are believed to have resulted in reported losses of over $200 million for U.S. victims, with each victim losing an average of $150,000, although the true extent of the losses is likely much greater due to underreporting [3][4]. The administrator of Funnull, Liu Lizhi, a Chinese national, has also faced sanctions from OFAC for his direct involvement in managing operations, including assigning domain names and supervising employee performance related to supporting cybercriminal activities [2][5].
The FBI and OFAC have issued advisories detailing Funnull's technical infrastructure, providing lists of associated cryptocurrency addresses and IP addresses used in their operations [2][3]. As a result of the sanctions, any assets or property owned by Funnull Technology Inc. in the U.S. are now blocked, and American companies are prohibited from conducting business with the firm [5].
[1] https://www.treasury.gov/ress-releases/reports/5796/Pages/20250530.aspx[2] https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20250530.aspx[3] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-treasury-department-sanctions-philippines-based-company-funnull-technology[4] https://www.ksat.com/news/texas/false-promises-of-crypto-investments-cost-texans-millions-in-scams-sf-updates-warnings[5] https://www.theverge.com/2025/5/30/22856743/office-foreign-assets-control-sanctions-pig-butchering-crypto-scams-funnull-technology-lizhi-china-us
Blockchain technology was allegedly exploited by Funnull Technology Inc., a sanctioned company, in carrying out large-scale cryptocurrency investment scams, particularly pig butchering schemes. Funnull's activities involved altcoin investments, and they facilitated these schemes by utilizing IP addresses and internet infrastructure acquired from major cloud service providers.
