Meta Removes 63,000 Facebook Accounts of Nigerian Scammers Involved in Sextortion, Takes Safety Steps To Protect Teenagers
Meta reportedly removed nearly 63,000 accounts of Nigerian scammers involved in sextortion scams. These perpetrators reportedly were part of Yahoo Boys group and were trying to recruit and train others to do the scams.
Abuja, July 24: Meta removed thousands of Nigerian Facebook accounts engaged in financial sextortion scams. Mark Zuckerberg-run Meta removed about 63,000 accounts of scammers from Facebook who were involved in illegal activities, including recruiting new scammers to join the cause.
Bloomberg reported that Meta removed these Nigeria-based scammers' accounts at the end of May 2024 as the US witnessed rapid sextortion. The report highlighted that the Nigerian scammers posed as teenage girls on Instagram and Snapchat and forced their targets to send their nudes. Once these targets sent their photos, the scammers used these photos to blackmail and extort money from them. Telegram EvilVideo Malware Alert: Hackers Exploiting Security Flaw to Send Harmful Files Disguised as Videos, Here's How to Protect Your Mobile Phone From Being Compromised.
The report mentioned that the scammers using Facebook accounts also threatened the victims to forward the sent images to their family members and friends or make them public. The US Federal Bureau reportedly said that there was a significant rise in sextortion activities, and it was becoming one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country.
The perpetrators targeted the teenagers in this sextortion scam, which led to multiple victims killing themselves since 2021. The report said that over two dozen minors, According to another report by US News, two Nigerian brothers pleaded guilty to trying to extort from teen boys and young men from Michigan state. It also included a victim who took his own life over the sextortion.
Reports said that the recent rise in sextortion was linked to the Yahoo Boys, an infamous group of con men who scammed people in large numbers. The reports said that Meta removed the Facebook accounts of scammers from the alleged Yahoo Boys group, who tried to organize, recruit, and train new members to scam others. Microsoft Outage Update: Tech Giant Blames EU for Not Offering Same Protections As Apple’s Macs, Cannot Promise To Stop Future Recurrence, Say Reports.
Besides removing the Facebook accounts of Nigerian scammers, Meta reportedly took strict steps to offer better security to teenagers. This included setting strict message settings on the Facebook accounts of teenagers that would send sextortion-focused safety notices and blur nudes sent or received by minors.
Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Helpline Numbers:
Tele Manas (Ministry of Health) – 14416 or 1800 891 4416; NIMHANS – 080-46110007; Peak Mind – 080-456 87786; Vandrevala Foundation – 9999 666 555; Arpita Suicide Prevention Helpline – 080-23655557; iCALL – 022-25521111 and 9152987821; COOJ Mental Health Foundation (COOJ) – 8322252525.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 24, 2024 08:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).