Meta announced that over 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts associated with criminal scam operations have been disrupted between January and June as part of its ongoing scam clampdown campaign, The Associated Press reports.
Increasingly prevalent criminal scam centers, which have been underpinned by forced labor, are among the leading purveyors of unwanted messages aimed at pilfering targets' data or cash, according to Meta, which also noted the multi-platform nature of current scams that could begin with text or dating app messages and conclude with social media and payment platform compromise. Threat actors in Cambodia were also reported by Meta to have attempted to use its other apps Facebook and Instagram, as well as Telegram and TikTok, as part of scam campaigns involving pyramid schemes and cryptocurrency investment lures. Mounting scam prevalence has also prompted Meta to update WhatsApp with test alerts and other tools meant to prevent victimization.
Increasingly prevalent criminal scam centers, which have been underpinned by forced labor, are among the leading purveyors of unwanted messages aimed at pilfering targets' data or cash, according to Meta, which also noted the multi-platform nature of current scams that could begin with text or dating app messages and conclude with social media and payment platform compromise. Threat actors in Cambodia were also reported by Meta to have attempted to use its other apps Facebook and Instagram, as well as Telegram and TikTok, as part of scam campaigns involving pyramid schemes and cryptocurrency investment lures. Mounting scam prevalence has also prompted Meta to update WhatsApp with test alerts and other tools meant to prevent victimization.
