Meta announced [1], [2] that it has blocked more than 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts this year that were linked to online scams, as part of its efforts to combat a global fraud network generating billions of dollars in illicit profits.
According to the company’s press release, most of the blocked accounts were connected to scam centers, mainly in Southeast Asia, that are also accused of human trafficking and forced labor.
On Monday, WhatsApp also rolled out new anti-fraud features designed to alert users to potential suspicious activity, such as being added to group chats by people outside their contact list.
In March, U.S. authorities reported that scam victims lost $12.5 billion in 2024 alone—a 25% increase compared to 2023.
Common scam tactics include hacking user accounts or adding people to group chats promoting fake investments or other financial schemes.
Meta stated that WhatsApp “proactively detected and took down accounts before scam centres were able to operationalise them.”
In one case, WhatsApp collaborated with Meta and OpenAI to shut down a scam linked to a criminal group in Cambodia. The group had offered to pay people cash for “liking” posts on social media, as part of a fake scooter rental scheme.
According to the company, the scammers had used ChatGPT to generate instructions given to potential victims.
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