The parent company of Facebook, Meta Platforms Inc., announced on Wednesday that it has taken action against online fraudsters in Nigeria by removing 63,000 accounts.
These accounts were linked to individuals using Meta’s social media services to blackmail targets after soliciting intimate photos.
Additionally, Meta announced that it had deleted thousands of other accounts, pages, and groups distributing scripts on how to blackmail and sexually extort users.
The Facebook accounts were involved in financial and sexual extortion scams, mainly targeting adult men in the United States. Nigerian online fraudsters, often referred to as “Yahoo boys,” are known for various fraudulent activities, including posing as individuals in financial distress. The fraudsters use fake accounts to mask their identities and engage in “sextortion,” threatening victims with the release of compromising photos unless they paid to prevent it.
According to Meta, the deleted accounts included a smaller, coordinated network of about 2,500 accounts linked to a group of roughly 20 individuals. These scammers mainly target adult men in the U.S., but there were also attempts against minors, which Meta reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S. The investigation showed that most of the scammers’ attempts were unsuccessful.
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Meta used new technical signals to identify and combat sextortion activities. Additionally, some accounts were found providing tips on conducting scams and linking to collections of photos for creating fake accounts. Fraudsters operate from different locations, including university dormitories, shanty suburbs, and highbrow areas.
Meta’s crackdown aims to protect users and maintain the integrity of its platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, from fraudulent activities and exploitation.
