The person who appears to be heavily interested in you may be an individual or part of a syndicate group that has elaborate schemes to steal your money, but Meta made its move against them by purging its social media platforms. According to the company, it found a significant number of accounts linked to the infamous "pig-butchering" scams and has now removed them from its network.
Meta revealed that this notorious scheme has already cost global users billions of dollars after falling victim to these threat actors, with the company focusing on "cross-border" security measures to get rid of them online.
Meta Purges 2M Accounts Tied to 'Pig-Butchering' Scams
Meta detailed in its latest blog post that it removed as much as two million accounts they found online to have ties to 'pig-butchering scams' among other schemes that are taking advantage of people's vulnerability. According to Meta, its most recent fight this year focused on scam centers that stole billions of dollars from their victims, partnering with security experts and law enforcement agencies to shut them down.
It was revealed by Meta that most scam centers are concentrated in the Southeast Asian regions including countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines. However, the company was also able to identify scamming organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The company revealed that most of these pig-butchering scammers resort to building a relationship with their victim, whether it is platonic or romantic, before convincing them to "invest" in a specific opportunity including cryptocurrency.
No Matter Where You Are, Meta is Going to Find You
According to Meta, the company is still looking to take down "cross-border criminal organizations" to avoid further losses in its platforms, with its many safety policies and the Dangerous Organization and Individuals Policy looking to further protect the public.
There is a high level of sophistication behind pig-butchering scams and the others that Meta found proliferating on its platform as they are able to ask their victims to invest multiple times in the fraudulent service, before cutting off communications and running away with their money.
Meta Platforms' Security Focus
Meta may not be one of the most popular companies regarding security measures, but the company has tried over the years to bring improved protection to user's data and their online privacy. The goal for Meta is to make its social media platforms help users feel at ease, with the company previously introducing a new facial recognition tech that can help spot deepfakes and assist in account recovery in future updates.
Earlier this year, Meta also brought significant upgrades to Instagram's operations that offer a way for teens to continue using the social media platform and being safe from the massive online harms present. Despite restricting teen accounts on Instagram, Meta's new and stricter DM controls are also a way to protect teens from their activities, especially for its minor users.
That being said, the company is still notorious for its massive user data access which has been facing scrutiny worldwide, with Meta recently slapped with a fine by South Korea for their misuse of Korean user data. The latest from Meta detailed its massive fight against scamming groups using the 'pig-butchering' scheme to prevent them from further harming online users that may be possible victims.
