US Treasury Sanctions Company Linked to Pig Butchering Crypto Scams

So, get this! The U.S. Treasury is cracking down on a company in the Philippines called Funnull Technology Inc. because they think it's giving internet stuff to those nasty 'pig butchering' virtual currency scams. You know, the ones where they trick you into putting money into fake crypto things? Yeah, those are apparently a billion-dollar problem now, and it's all linked to organized crime and even human trafficking, which is just awful.

The Treasury folks put out a statement saying Funnull was buying internet addresses in big batches and selling them to cybercriminals. They also sanctioned this guy, Liu Lizhi, who they think is in charge of Funnull. Supposedly, he's 40 and has ties to places in China like Shanghai and Ganzhou. We couldn't get a hold of him, and Funnull didn't get back to us either when we tried to ask them about it. We even looked for Funnull in the Philippines' company list, but no luck finding them there.

These pig butchering scams basically rely on fake websites to rip people off. Earlier this year, some smart folks who look at cyber stuff figured out Funnull was connected to a bunch of these scam sites. Also, thousands of other sites that looked like they were for gambling or washing money. These scams started in China, but now they're hitting people all over the world. It's crazy!

Someone who studies blockchain stuff, Chainalysis, said the money these scams are making is at an all-time high. They think using AI to help scammers talk to more people and make their pitches sound better might be part of why. Like, wow. It just keeps getting more complicated, right?