Philippine tech firm sanctioned by U.S. over $200 million romance scam network
According to U.S. representatives, these fake platforms victimised defenceless persons by engaging in illusory online relationships before coercing them into spending money on fake crypto arrangements. Victims lose an average of more than US$150,000, with total losses going beyond US$200 million.
'This is a ruthless, calculated form of exploitation,' said Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. 'We will go after those who misuse virtual currencies and internet services to perpetrate fraud and other crimes.' See also Opponents of coup in Myanmar call for more large-scale protests Tech infrastructure used to evade detection
The FBI, which has been probing into Funnull and tracking its movements since January, disclosed that the firm bought bulk IP addresses from key cloud providers and sold them back to defrauders. These were utilised to host con websites and escape exposure by hastily spinning domains and IP addresses.
Funnull also received widespread media coverage and in cybersecurity circles after obtaining Polyfill.io, a JavaScript library extensively used by developers. Soon after, experts at Silent Push and Sansec cautioned that sites using Polyfill code were rerouting users to hostile domains hosted on Funnull's network.
The U.S. Treasury noted that Funnull is associated with the common crypto scam websites reported to the FBI and had a 'critical enabling role' in their rampant spread. Liu Lizhi, purportedly one of the overseers of the manoeuvre, controlled inside documents that proved Funnull workers were assigned to distribute domains for use in phishing, fake investment schemes, and gambling activities. Calls for local investigation amid regulatory gaps
Funnull, listed with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission in 2021, has its operations from the 14th floor of the Net Cube Centre in BGC, a government-designated 'cyberpark' giving tax inducements. This has triggered fear among tech regulators and transparency activists.
'This operation was likely based out of a shared or co-working space, which makes it easier to stay under the radar,' said Dominic Ligot of Democracy.NET.PH and Data Ethics PH. 'Scam operations often choose prestigious business locations to project legitimacy.'
Ligot and other specialists have complained about the absence of strong regulatory implementation in the Philippines, inferring that weak monitoring, exploitation, with a nominal inspection permit sham businesses to thrive.
A high-ranking industry insider, speaking incognito, suspected that some government bureaucrats may have been enticed to favour Funnull's business licenses. The source called for the conduct of a thorough inquiry into public officials who approved the firm's registration and operating certificate. See also Police arrest man involved in hotel booking scam
Presently, neither the Philippine government nor the city of Taguig has issued statements in response to the U.S. sanctions. The FBI has advised victims to come forward as the investigation continues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Indonesia arrests eFishery start-up founder over alleged fraud
JAKARTA: The founder of once-booming Indonesian aquaculture firm eFishery has been arrested with two of his associates on suspicion of fraud, police said Tuesday (Aug 5). After selling itself as a disruptive business offering fish and shrimp farmers an online platform for "feed, financing and market", it fell from grace in late 2024 when former chief executive Gibran Huzaifah was suspended over revenue irregularities. Gibran and two former executives were named as suspects and recently arrested over allegations they manipulated the company's books, said Helfi Assegaf, the national police director of special economic crime. "The three collaborated to carry out fraud and embezzlement on the investment process of eFishery by marking up the investment," he told reporters Tuesday. They were accused of inflating the tech unicorn's revenue and profit to lure investment. The police official did not say if the three had been formally charged. Helfi said nearly a million dollars had been embezzled from the firm. "The initial figure that we can already prove is 15 billion rupiah (US$915,499)," he said. "It's still under process. We also are carrying out an audit of financial reports and the use of money." In an interview with Bloomberg published in April, Gibran admitted to manipulating eFishery's financial statements, but denied stealing any money. The trio have been in custody since Jul 31, according to Indonesian police-run site Tribratanews. After Gibran's suspension, the firm laid off most employees and appointed a consulting firm as its new management team this year, according to local media reports. The company was once valued at US$1.4 billion dollars but an internal probe found it had inflated its accounts and incurred investor losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, Bloomberg reported. Earlier this year, the startup appointed business advisory firm FTI Consulting as its new management.
CNA
15 hours ago
- CNA
Philippine inflation at near 6-year low, paves way for rate cuts
MANILA :Philippine consumer prices rose at their slowest pace in nearly six years in July as utility costs moderated and food prices declined, the statistics agency said on Tuesday, potentially allowing the central bank to cut interest rates later this year. The consumer price index rose 0.9 per cent year on year, the lowest rate since October 2019, and below the 1.1 per cent median forecast in a Reuters poll. The July figure was also less than June's 1.4 per cent. That brought the average rate in the seven-month period to 1.7 per cent, below the central bank's 2.0 per cent to 4.0 per cent target for the year. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona told Reuters last week the central bank was on track to slash its key interest rate, currently at a two-and-a-half-year low of 5.25 per cent, two more times this year, but the timing will depend on the outlook for growth and inflation. "On balance, a more accommodative monetary policy stance remains warranted," the central bank said in a statement following the data. "Emerging risks to inflation from rising geopolitical tensions and external policy uncertainty will require closer monitoring, alongside the continued assessment of the impact of prior monetary policy adjustments," it added. The July inflation slowdown was partly driven by a faster annual decline in rice prices, which fell 15.9 per cent, compared with June's 14.3 per cent drop. The statistics agency said the downward trend in rice inflation was likely to persist in the next few months. However, core inflation - which excludes volatile food and energy prices - slightly quickened to 2.3 per cent in July from 2.2 per cent the prior month. The Philippines, which has lowered its growth forecast for 2025 to 5.5 per cent-6.5 per cent from an earlier forecast of 6 per cent-8 per cent, will announce second quarter GDP data on August 7.
CNA
16 hours ago
- CNA
Philippine annual inflation at 0.9% in July
MANILA :Philippine annual inflation moderated to 0.9 per cent in July from the previous month's 1.4 per cent rate, helped by a slower rise in utility costs, the statistics agency said on Tuesday. The headline rate was the lowest reading since October 2019. Economists in a Reuters poll had expected an annual inflation rate of 1.1 per cent, within the central bank's forecast range of 0.5 per cent to 1.3 per cent for the month. The annual core inflation rate, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was 2.3 per cent in July.
