Feds gut host behind pig butchering scams that bilked $200M from Americans

The US Treasury has sanctioned a Philippine company and its administrator after linking them to the infrastructure behind the majority of so-called "pig butchering" scams reported to the FBI.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Funnull Technology Inc, meaning any property or assets it owns in the US - directly or indirectly, and at 50 percent or more - are now blocked. Designation also means American companies are barred from doing business with the company. Chinese national Liu Lizhi, named as the site's admin, was also sanctioned by the Treasury.

"Liu was involved in and possessed spreadsheets and other documents containing information about Funnull’s employees, their performance, and their progress on tasks," the Feds said. "These tasks included assigning domain names to cybercriminals, including domains associated with virtual currency investment fraud, phishing scams, and online gambling sites."

Pig butchering scams see scammers contact a victim and earn their ...