US sanctions Philippines digital infrastructure provider linked to virtual currency scams

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By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury is placing under sanctions a Philippines-based company accused of providing internet infrastructure to a swathe of virtual currency investment scams, better known as “pig butchering.” 

In a statement issued on Thursday, Treasury officials said they were taking action against Funnull Technology Inc., which they accused of buying internet protocol addresses in bulk from other service providers and reselling them to cybercriminals. An alleged administrator of Funnull, Chinese citizen Liu Lizhi, was also placed under sanctions.

Reuters could not immediately locate contact information for Liu, who the Treasury described as being 40 years old and linked to addresses in Shanghai and Ganzhou. A message seeking comment from Funnull was not immediately returned. Reuters’ attempt to locate Funnull in the Philippines’ corporate registry was unsuccessful.

Virtual currency investment scams – which typically work by convincing people to put their money into fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes – have become a billion-dollar industry, run by organized crime and fueled by human trafficking.

The scams often rely on bogus websites to swindle their victims, and earlier this year researchers from cybersecurity firm Silent Push tied Funnull to a network of such sites, along with thousands of other devoted to suspected gambling or money laundering.

Pig butchering scams, which originated in China, now target people worldwide. Earlier this year, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said revenues from the scams were at a record high, likely boosted by the use of generative algorithms to help scammers better tailor their pitches and talk to more people at a time.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter and AJ Vicens; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)