Meta Removes 1,600 Accounts Connected to Scam Groups

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has removed 1,600 Facebook accounts linked to scam groups, commonly known as ‘Yahoo Boys’.

This latest crackdown follows a previous one in July, which saw the removal of 63,000 accounts connected to scam groups, as stated in the Q1 2024 Adversarial Threat Report. The action also included the deletion of 7,200 assets in Nigeria, comprising 1,300 Facebook accounts, 200 pages, and 5,700 groups offering scam-related resources.

In a statement on Thursday, Meta revealed that these groups were involved in recruiting, organising, and training new scammers. Although Meta has been actively removing such accounts for years, it introduced new processes to accelerate the identification and removal of these accounts.

Meta explained, “Yahoo Boys are banned under our Dangerous Organisations and Individuals policy, one of our strictest, meaning we remove accounts engaging in this criminal activity as soon as we become aware of them. While we’ve been taking down Yahoo Boys’ accounts for years, we are implementing new measures to speed up this process.”

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In addition to targeting scammers, Meta has introduced enhanced safety features to protect users, particularly teenagers, from sextortion scams. These measures block suspicious accounts from following teens and restrict scammers from accessing follower lists used for blackmail. Meta further described sextortion as a serious crime where scammers threaten to expose intimate images of young people unless financial demands are met.

To address this, Meta is introducing global protections, including preventing the screenshotting or recording of ephemeral images and videos sent via Instagram DM or Messenger. A feature that automatically blurs images containing nudity and warns users of potential risks, will also be enabled for users under 18.

Meta added, “We’ll continue to enhance our protections to safeguard our community from sextortion criminals. This includes helping teens and families recognise these scams early, preventing scammers from reaching their targets, and collaborating with our peers to fight these criminals across all apps they use.”

Meta highlighted its commitment to educating teens and families and working with other platforms to combat these crimes comprehensively.