Date: 30th July 2024
Source: TechinAfrica
Meta has announced the removal of approximately 63,000 Facebook accounts linked to Nigeria that were involved in financial sextortion scams. These scams usually see perpetrators posing as attractive women to trick victims into sending nude photos. Once the images are acquired, the scammers threaten to publish them unless a ransom is paid. Additionally, the company has taken down around 7,200 resources, which include 1,300 Facebook accounts, 200 Facebook Pages, and 5,700 Facebook Groups from Nigeria. These pages and groups aided scammers by providing scripts for conversing with victims and links to image collections used to create fake identities for catfishing.
Meta also revealed the removal of certain accounts, including about 2,500 tied to a coordinated network run by around 20 individuals. The company’s investigation found that most financial sextortion attempts targeting adult men in the United States were unsuccessful, though there were cases involving minors that Meta promptly reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Meta highlighted that financial sextortion, like many other crimes, transcends national borders. In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in scams targeting individuals worldwide through the internet, primarily led by cybercriminals known as Yahoo Boys—Nigerian online fraudsters—who engage in various scams, including financial sextortion.
In response, Meta has enforced a ban on Yahoo Boys under its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy, one of the company’s most stringent policies. This ensures that any accounts linked to Yahoo Boys and their criminal activities are swiftly removed upon identification.
Moreover, sextortion often starts with romance scams, and reports indicate Nigeria’s significant involvement in online romance fraud across Africa. Unfortunately, scammers are increasingly exploiting mobile games as well.
To combat this, Meta is testing advanced technologies to help prevent victims from falling victim to sextortion scams. This includes a new auto-blur feature for Instagram direct messages (DMs), which automatically blurs images if nudity is detected, as announced by the company.
