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U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

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Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#41

Post by RainyDayTmrw »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #29
abletonlive wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I experienced the same thing in my family. It sucks. I still haven't fully forgiven them (the supposed victim). As much as I agree it's partially mental decline, it's hard for me to imagine it's not at least also partially a character flaw that would get you into this situation

I, tiptoeing here, kind of agree. Am I missing something or do these scams operate on a person's greed? To be sure, I invest in order to see a return. That's greed, I guess? Or maybe not? I think having (unrealistic) expectations of doubling your money in anything shorter than ... about a decade ... should be sending up red flags for anyone. "Make money fast" should fire the same neurons as "Put it all on zero and sp…

That's a common enough take, and I think there's some truth to it, but I think it's overly simplistic. I think there is certainly a motivation that such scams target, but I don't know if "greed" is necessarily the right word. Some of it is not necessarily knowing what is or isn't realistic, given the stories that we hear on the news. Some of it is feeling stuck, and trying to go out on a branch, and picking the wrong one. Not all of these cases are immoral, or at least not the same level of immoral.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#42

Post by MrMorden »

mmooss wrote: post #4

Don't fall into the trap: Government penalizing private parties without due process can be appealing when it's a private party you don't like, but even those people deserve due process - that's the point, everyone does. Also it's arbitrary, unchecked power that is used for corrupt purposes, and by supporting it in a situation where you like to see it, you are legitimizing that power in every case. Edit: It's tough to…

The process is that they need to be designated by specified cabinet members based on published criteria. If Funnull believe that they weren't lawfully designated (e.g., because they're actually in Peoria or whatever), they can hire a lawyer and sue.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#43

Post by wmf »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #29
abletonlive wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I experienced the same thing in my family. It sucks. I still haven't fully forgiven them (the supposed victim). As much as I agree it's partially mental decline, it's hard for me to imagine it's not at least also partially a character flaw that would get you into this situation

I, tiptoeing here, kind of agree. Am I missing something or do these scams operate on a person's greed? To be sure, I invest in order to see a return. That's greed, I guess? Or maybe not? I think having (unrealistic) expectations of doubling your money in anything shorter than ... about a decade ... should be sending up red flags for anyone. "Make money fast" should fire the same neurons as "Put it all on zero and sp…

Bitcoin has done 4x in some years and 10,000x in a decade. Unfortunately that has led people to believe that crypto is magic. Classic Ponzis and such mostly don't work any more but if you add in crypto suddenly people are willing to buy in.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#44

Post by wmf »

hamandcheese wrote: post #24
strogonoff wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pig butchering gets additionally horrible when you consider the other side. People who actually handle the chatting are kept in inhuman conditions and physically cannot leave. Laundered profits go to criminal bosses at the top (corrupting various local governments, given they constitute a significant percentage of their economies at this point). See Number Go Up by Zeke Faux for a glimpse into that (and how cryptocur…

> People who actually handle the chatting are kept in inhuman conditions and physically cannot leave. I think there might be a word for this.

But I was informed that ended in 1865.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#45

Post by alexey-salmin »

Auracle wrote: post #31
JKCalhoun wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, tiptoeing here, kind of agree. Am I missing something or do these scams operate on a person's greed? To be sure, I invest in order to see a return. That's greed, I guess? Or maybe not? I think having (unrealistic) expectations of doubling your money in anything shorter than ... about a decade ... should be sending up red flags for anyone. "Make money fast" should fire the same neurons as "Put it all on zero and sp…

My dad isn't a gambler. He invested in the stock market, but never anything like options. I've never known him to buy a lottery ticket. He's not greedy. He is, however, pretty trusting. It took them months to get to the point where he was putting money in. I think he (naively) just trusted them. I wish he would have trusted us instead.

> I think he (naively) just trusted them. I wish he would have trusted us instead.

Probably he trusted people who spent more time talking to him. I don't mean it as an way to blame anyone, I just think it's the way the trust mechanism is wired into the human brain, and this is why these scams work so well.

Ironically this mirrors the parent's frustration of "I wish my kid trusted me and not his dumb-ass friends".

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#46

Post by orbital-decay »

tw04 wrote: post #5
mmooss wrote: post #4

Don't fall into the trap: Government penalizing private parties without due process can be appealing when it's a private party you don't like, but even those people deserve due process - that's the point, everyone does. Also it's arbitrary, unchecked power that is used for corrupt purposes, and by supporting it in a situation where you like to see it, you are legitimizing that power in every case. Edit: It's tough to…

Can you cite where in the US code of law a foreign criminal is afforded due process in a sanction action?

That's more of a problem with the US code of law than with the point GP is making.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#47

Post by os2warpman »

alexey-salmin wrote: post #40
naet wrote: post #25

Cryptocurrency enables a big part of this. Not saying that there weren't any wire scams before crypto, but crypto has made it much easier for average people to make anonymous international money transfers that can't be reversed. Not to start a big argument, but to my eyes the main usecases of cryptocurrency are to bet on them as a speculative asset or to use them for various forms of crime. Someone will probably tell…

Whether you see international money transfers outside of the government control as a positive or negative force largely depends on how much you trust your government. How much it should limit things for your own safety? I suspect that for majority of the earth population the trust level is rather low, even though in some countries it could be different.

If I had to throw out a number describing how many more times I trust the FDIC than I trust some cryptobro, the first thing that comes to mind is "ten billion".

And my trust in the current administration is rather low.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#48

Post by tbrownaw »

naet wrote: post #25

Cryptocurrency enables a big part of this. Not saying that there weren't any wire scams before crypto, but crypto has made it much easier for average people to make anonymous international money transfers that can't be reversed. Not to start a big argument, but to my eyes the main usecases of cryptocurrency are to bet on them as a speculative asset or to use them for various forms of crime. Someone will probably tell…

> main usecases of cryptocurrency are to bet on them as a speculative asset or to use them for various forms of crime. Someone will probably tell me about some theoretical situation where it is a positive force

When you don't agree with the laws that are being broken in a particular case.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#49

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

wmf wrote: post #43
JKCalhoun wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, tiptoeing here, kind of agree. Am I missing something or do these scams operate on a person's greed? To be sure, I invest in order to see a return. That's greed, I guess? Or maybe not? I think having (unrealistic) expectations of doubling your money in anything shorter than ... about a decade ... should be sending up red flags for anyone. "Make money fast" should fire the same neurons as "Put it all on zero and sp…

Bitcoin has done 4x in some years and 10,000x in a decade. Unfortunately that has led people to believe that crypto is magic. Classic Ponzis and such mostly don't work any more but if you add in crypto suddenly people are willing to buy in.

Classic Ponzis are still very much around too. The SEC prosecuted a fun one last month (https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-71) where they raised $91 million pretending to trade international bonds.

Re: U.S. sanctions cloud provider 'Funnull' as top source of 'pig butchering' scams

#50

Post by tbrownaw »

wmf wrote: post #44
hamandcheese wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People who actually handle the chatting are kept in inhuman conditions and physically cannot leave. I think there might be a word for this.

But I was informed that ended in 1865.

The world's a big place.
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