Meta just nuked 2 million WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook accounts

Key Takeaways

Meta has closed over 2 million accounts to combat organized crime globally.
The company targets criminal organizations behind various schemes like pig butchering.
Meta introduces features to help users identify and avoid potential scammers.

Meta has confirmed that it has closed over two million accounts across WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook as it seeks to better stop criminal behavior from engaging in its services. According to Meta, this massive account deactivation is part of its efforts to be more proactive in its fight against organized crime.

In a recent report, Meta detailed the ways it is fighting against organized criminal bodies. This includes organizations across Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines. “We’re going after the criminal organizations behind pig butchering and other schemes,” Meta said in the ‘Cracking Down On Organized Crime Behind Scam Centers report. The company is targeting those globally engaging through messages, dating apps, social media, and crypto.

This latest report is the first in which Meta is detailing the ways it is approaching criminal activity across virtual borders. With an active focus on those looking to take advantage of individuals for forced-labor “scam compounds.” This also extends to groups promoting violence, organized crime, terrorism, and hate.

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From crypto to loan fraud, Meta is looking at all of it

Instagram app on phone on colored background

Details via the Meta Intelligence report highlight how scam compounds lure workers to engage in crypto and loan fraud. “We assess that much of the scam centers’ activity is tightly scripted by criminal syndicates to scale their operations,” Meta says in the report, “it includes some forced-labor scammers focusing on casting a wide net online to ‘spray and pray’ by reaching out to a large number of people via text message or online with a relatively generic appeal in hopes that some of them will respond.”

With key partners at play, Meta aims to defend users against such scams in a sustainable way. Since 2022, the company has helped identify and “go after” scam hotspots around the globe.

The analysis shows that scammers usually start their attack on common messaging apps. This includes dating apps, emails, texts, and social media apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. The goal is to move the target from these more secure apps and services onto crypto apps and malicious websites run by criminal organizations. With key partners at play, Meta aims to defend users against such scams in a sustainable way. Since 2022, the company has helped identify and “go after” scam hotspots around the globe. Actions consist of four categories:

Dangerous organizations and individuals policy
On-platform enforcements
Working with others
Law enforcement

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New support and product features ensure users are better protected from scammers

Someone using the WhatsApp app on a colored background

In addiiton to deleting suspicious accounts, Meta is also pushing new features out on a regular basis to fight against scammers. “We will show you a warning in Messenger and Instagram DMs reminding you to be aware of potentially suspicious interactions or cold outreach from people you don’t know,” Meta says.

On top of this, Meta provides a way to slow down and review a message request before accepting. On WhatsApp, you’ll be given a context card regarding a group that’s added you. If you don’t know this group, Meta will flag this and show you who added you to the group and when it was created.