Meta Removed 2 Million Accounts Connected to Scam Centers
According to Meta, the scam centers are described as ‘extremely persistent and well-resourced criminal organizations’ that work hard to avoid detection.
Meta announced on Nov. 21 that it has already taken down more than two million accounts this year that were associated with scam centers, including pig-butchering schemes and other malicious activities.
The scam centers were discovered to be operating from Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines, with their schemes targeting people globally, according to a blog post by the tech giant.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, mentioned that their teams have been investigating and disrupting criminal activities of these scam centers in Southeast Asia for over two years. They have collaborated with NGOs and law enforcement in the US and Southeast Asia to better understand the operations of these criminal groups.
Meta also highlighted that the scam hubs entice locals with fake job offers and then coerce them into participating in online scams, like pig-butchering schemes, all while threatening them with physical harm.
The report explained that a pig-butchering scheme is a type of investment fraud where scammers build relationships with victims online before persuading them to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.
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Scammers often use dating apps and social media sites to target victims by creating deceptive personas to lure them in.
Victims may be allowed to withdraw small amounts to build trust, but once they request their ‘investment’ back or show they have no more funds to send, the scammers typically disappear with all the money, Meta explained.
Meta received information from OpenAI about a scam compound in Cambodia attempting to create and translate content using ChatGPT, prompting Meta to disrupt the malicious activity on their platforms.
The US Institute of Peace estimated in a report from May 2024 that up to 300,000 people have been coerced into working as online scammers in the Mekong region of Asia.
A conservative estimate as of the end of 2023 suggests that the annual value of funds stolen worldwide by these syndicates was approximately $64 billion, as per the report.
Maj. Gen. Teeradej Thumsutee, commander of the investigation division of the Royal Thai Police’s Metropolitan Police Bureau, mentioned that Thailand’s authorities have been collaborating with Meta for over two years to dismantle criminal scam centers.
Thumsutee added, “We’ve been able to share information so they can investigate and take action against the bad guys and help us hold the criminal syndicates behind these scam centers accountable.”
The FBI stated in its 2023 annual report that they received over 69,000 complaints about financial fraud last year involving cryptocurrency, leading to losses estimated at over $5.6 billion.
