Meta disables over 150,000 accounts in crackdown on south-east Asian scam networks

Meta disabled more than 150,000 accounts and Thai police arrested 21 people in a sweeping international crackdown on south-east Asian criminal scam centers that targeted people around the world, the social media company said Wednesday.

The operation was led by Thailand’s Royal Thai police anti-cyber scam center, alongside the FBI and the US justice department’s scam center strike force, with Meta investigators acting on intelligence shared in real time by law enforcement.

Alongside the enforcement action, Meta announced a series of new protective tools, including alerts on Facebook for suspicious friend requests and a WhatsApp warning system to flag potentially fraudulent device-linking attempts.

Meta said it would expand its scam detection tools for Facebook Messenger. Photograph: Courtesy of Meta

One of Meta’s tools aims to detect when a potential Facebook friend shows signs of falsifying details about their profile – like, for example, an account operating out of a different country than the one stated in the profile. The tool provides users details on the account, highlighting potential issues, such as a lack of mutual friends or that the account was recently created, and gives options to either block or report it for inauthentic activity.

Meta’s WhatsApp warning system intends to detect scammers trying to get users to connect their WhatsApp numbers to a device that is not their own, thereby gaining access to their accounts. A pop-up will appear warning about linking the device and suggesting the activity might be a scam. The company also stated that it expanded its scam detection for Facebook Messenger, offering users to send chats such as unsolicited job offers for an AI review to determine their authenticity.

Online scam networks – many operating out of compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos – have grown increasingly sophisticated in recent years, running what authorities describe as full-scale criminal business operations designed to evade detection.

Scammers working at these fraud compounds lure internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments, and have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal billions of dollars from victims around the world.

Meta announced a series of new protective tools, including alerts on Facebook for suspicious friend requests. Photograph: Courtesy of Meta

The latest crackdown also involved the UK’s National Crime Agency, as well as agencies from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.

A pilot action in December yielded the removal of 59,000 accounts, pages and groups from Meta’s platforms and six arrest warrants. Last week’s follow-up operation more than doubled that account tally.

“This operation is a testament to how sharing information and coordinating our efforts can make real progress in disrupting this criminal activity at its source,” said Chris Sonderby, Meta’s vice-president and deputy general counsel.

Thai police official Jirabhop Bhuridej, assistant commissioner general of the Royal Thai police, said the crackdown “sends a clear message to criminals” that authorities would continue to pursue online scam syndicates operating across borders.