U.S. Treasury Cracks Down on Crypto Scam Infrastructure
On May 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Funnull Technology Inc., a Philippines-based technology firm, and its administrator, Liu Lizhi, for their involvement in facilitating cryptocurrency investment scams known as ‘pig butchering.’ These scams have resulted in losses exceeding $200 million for U.S. victims since Funnull’s inception.
Role in Facilitating Pig Butchering Scams
Funnull Technology Inc. enabled cybercriminals by purchasing IP addresses in bulk from major cloud service providers and selling them to operators of fraudulent investment platforms. This infrastructure allowed scammers to host malicious websites mimicking legitimate investment platforms, deceiving victims into investing in non-existent opportunities. Funnull was a central player in a network dubbed ‘Triad Nexus’ by security researchers, which includes over 200,000 unique hostnames associated with investment scams, fake trading apps, and suspect gambling networks.
On-Chain Activity of Sanctioned Addresses
OFAC’s designation includes two digital currency addresses associated with Funnull Technology Inc.:
- Ethereum (ETH): 0xd5ED34b52AC4ab84d8FA8A231a3218bbF01Ed510
- TRON (TRX): TNmRfnSUXZoWWzxcDDbf95eGQYXt1mJDt8
These addresses were likely used to receive payments from cybercriminals for IP addresses and other web infrastructure used to host scam platforms. Analysis using Chainalysis Reactor reveals that Funnull had direct exposure to Huione Pay, a service recently identified by FinCEN as a primary money laundering concern. The addresses also show indirect exposure to various types of scams and domain management infrastructure vendors.
Strategic Implications for Combating Crypto-Enabled Fraud
The U.S. government’s action underscores its commitment to disrupting the infrastructure that enables large-scale cryptocurrency investment scams. By targeting service providers that facilitate these schemes, OFAC aims to dismantle the networks perpetrating such scams and protect potential victims. Chainalysis has labeled the sanctioned addresses in its product suite and will continue monitoring this network for updates.
The recent OFAC sanctions demonstrate a significant step in combating crypto-enabled fraud by targeting the underlying infrastructure that enables these scams. As the landscape of cryptocurrency-related crimes continues to evolve, understanding the role of facilitators like Funnull Technology Inc. becomes crucial in developing effective strategies to mitigate such risks.
