Meta removed around 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria attempting to target people with financial scams, including a coordinated network of around 2,500 accounts.
Meta announced on Wednesday that it has taken down approximately 63,000 accounts from Nigeria that were involved in financial sextortion scams. These scams involve criminals posing as someone else, often an attractive woman, to deceive potential victims into sending nude photos. After receiving the images, the scammer then threatens to release them unless the victim pays a sum of money.
In addition to removing the accounts, Meta has also eliminated 200 Facebook pages and 5,700 Facebook groups from Nigeria that were offering advice on how to carry out such scams, including providing scripts for communicating with victims. These groups also contained links to photo collections that scammers could use to create fake accounts to deceive victims, according to Meta.
The company is currently testing new technology designed to prevent individuals from falling victim to sextortion scams, such as an auto-blur feature in Instagram direct messages that will blur images if nudity is detected.
Antigone Davis, Meta’s global head of safety, emphasized the severity of financial sextortion and the company’s commitment to addressing it. She also noted that Instagram and Snapchat are the most common platforms for these scams, with Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire being the primary sources of such activity, according to a recent study.
In which countries do the scammers live?
Meta discovered that scammers are indiscriminate in their targeting, sending requests to numerous individuals in order to obtain a few responses. While most of the attempts were directed at adult men in the U.S., there were also instances of scammers attempting to reach teenagers.
Davis mentioned that some of the removed Facebook accounts, pages, and groups were operated by the Yahoo Boys, a network of scammers based in Nigeria.
Romance Scams: How to Recognize and Report Them
The FBI has emphasized the problem of financial sextortion scams targeting teenagers, stating that at least 20 children who were victims of these scams had died by suicide. Many victims experience fear, embarrassment, and concerns about long-term consequences, according to the Thorn and NCMEC report.
It is important for social media users to exercise caution if an account with a “very stylized, especially good-looking” photo contacts them or requests to exchange messages, Davis advised. “If you have never been messaged by this person before, that should give you pause,” she added.
Davis also pointed out that if somebody sends an image first, it is often to bait the recipient into sending an image second, or to gain and build trust. “This is one of those areas where if you have any suspicion, I would urge caution,” she noted.
She recommended that social media users review their privacy settings for messaging. For example, people can manage their Facebook Messenger settings to filter the individuals from whom they can receive messages, such as blocking people other than their Facebook friends.
