Meta Takes Down 63K Instagram Accounts, 5,700 Facebook Groups And 1,300 Facebook Accounts Linked To Sextortion Schemes

Meta recently announced the removal of approximately 63,000 Instagram accounts located in Nigeria. These accounts were involved in attempting to carry out "sextortion" scams, primarily targeting adult men in the US, with some children also being targeted.

Perpetrators of the scams utilised "sextortion" tactics on both Instagram and Facebook. These tactics involved threats of exposing users' private sexual photos or messages unless the victim fulfilled their financial demands.

Meta Disrupts Scam Network In Nigeria

In a blog post on its official Newsroom website, Meta revealed that among the 63,000 accounts, they discovered a network of 2,500 accounts managed by a group of approximately 20 individuals. This group specifically targeted adult men in the US and employed fake accounts to conceal their true identities.

The technology company further revealed the majority of these sextortion attempts were unsuccessful. While the majority of the scammers focused on adult male victims, Meta identified instances where sextortion attempts targeted minors.

These cases were reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In April, Meta announced the development of a new AI-powered "nudity protection" tool specifically designed to safeguard teenage users on Instagram from sextortion scams.

Meta's crackdown on sextortion scams follows a tragic event in 2022. The son of a South Carolina lawmaker took his own life after being deceived into sending nude photos through Instagram. The perpetrator then threatened to release the photos unless a financial demand was met.

Another tragic incident involved 17-year-old football and basketball star Jordan DeMay. After falling victim to a sextortion scam on Instagram, he died by suicide. Local authorities and the FBI successfully traced the perpetrators to Nigeria. The two young men responsible were handed over to the US, where they pleaded guilty in April.

In a similar case, a Dutch man who coerced over 20 British children into posing naked on webcams before blackmailing them was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison in 2017. According to the FBI, sextortion is one of the fastest-growing crimes targeting children in the US.

Nigerian "Yahoo boys" are cybercriminals who target internet users globally. They're known for elaborate schemes that promise unrealistic investment returns. The nickname "Yahoo boy" originated in the early 2000s, when these scammers used free Yahoo email accounts to conduct their frauds.

Companies like Meta have cracked down on these activities, banning "Yahoo boys" under their Dangerous Organizations and Individuals Policy, and continue to develop methods for more easily identifying them.

In a recent effort, Meta took down a significant network of Facebook scammers, including 5,700 groups, 1,300 accounts, and 200 pages that specifically provided tips and resources on how to carry out scams.

"Their efforts included offering to sell scripts and guides to use when scamming people and sharing links to collections of photos to use when populating fake accounts," Meta said in a statement.

Cracking Down: Meta Fights Back

Meta, led by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, is also taking a stand against sextortion. Earlier this year, they announced the development of new automated systems to identify accounts potentially engaging in sextortion tactics.

Additionally, Meta has implemented unspecified measures to prevent these scam accounts from interacting with teenagers. Meta's efforts to combat scams have continued.

The tech behemoth continued to refine its automatic identification systems to catch new accounts created by these scammers, especially after the takedown of an extensive network of Nigerian-based accounts.

"Since this disruption, our systems have been identifying and automatically blocking attempts from these groups to come back," Meta said, "and we continue to strengthen those systems to make them as effective as possible."