WhatsApp has removed more than 6,8 million fraudulent accounts in the first half of the year, its parent company, Meta, said. Many of them were linked to fraud centers run by organized criminals in Southeast Asia who often used forced labor in their operations, the company said. The announcement comes after WhatsApp rolled out new anti-fraud measures to alert users to potential fraudulent activity, such as a user being added to a group chat by someone who is not in their contact list. The removal targets a common tactic by criminals who hack into WhatsApp accounts to add users to group chats that promote fake investment schemes and other scams.
Meta said WhatsApp “proactively detected and deleted the accounts before the fraud centers could operate.”
In one case, WhatsApp partnered with Meta and OpenAI to disrupt a Cambodian criminal group that was offering money for social media likes to promote a fake pyramid scheme for renting a skateboard. The scammers used ChatGPT to create instructions for victims. They would typically contact them via text message before the conversation moved to social media or other messaging apps. The scams would culminate in payments or cryptocurrency platforms. “There’s always a catch, and that should be a red flag for everyone: you have to pay upfront to get the promised profits,” Meta said.
The scam centers that are extorting millions of dollars from people are operating from countries like Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand. They recruit people who are forced to carry out the scams. Authorities have advised people to be wary of potential scams and to use measures like double verification on WhatsApp to protect their accounts and to be alert to strange messages.