Meta has deleted tens of thousands of Nigerian instagram accounts as part of a about sextortion scams. The accounts were primarily targeting adult men in the United States, but some also targeted minors, Meta said in an update.
The removals are part of a larger effort by Meta to combat sexual extortion scams on its platform in recent months. Earlier this year, the company added a safety feature in instagram messages to automatically warn users about potential blackmail scams. The company also offers in-app resources and safety tips about these types of scams.
According to Meta, the recent takedowns included 2,500 accounts that were linked to a group of about 20 people working together to carry out sextortion scams. The company also removed thousands of accounts and groups on facebook that provided tips and other advice, including scripts and fake images, for potential sextortionists. Those accounts were linked to Yahoo Boys, a group of “loosely organized cybercriminals operating primarily out of Nigeria who specialize in different types of scams,” Meta said.
Meta has come under particular scrutiny for not doing enough to protect teens from sextortion on its apps. During a Senate hearing earlier this year, Sen. Lindsey Graham raised the question of whether the parents of a boy who died by suicide after falling victim to such a scam should be able to sue the company.
While the company said the “majority” of the scammers it discovered in its latest takedowns targeted adults, it confirmed that some of the accounts also targeted minors and that those accounts had also been reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
