By Lawrence Williams
Meta this week announced it has taken down 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts linked to criminal scam centres targeting people across the internet and around the world. These networks, largely run by organised crime groups in Southeast Asia, targeted vulnerable users online with “too-good-to-be-true offers” and elaborate pyramid schemes, exploiting economic hardship and uncertainty to lure victims into their traps.
The company said these scam centres often run multiple fraudulent campaigns simultaneously, ranging from fake cryptocurrency investments to multi-level marketing scams, typically requiring victims to pay upfront in exchange for promised benefits or earnings.
Last November, Meta dismantled over two million accounts connected to scam operations in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines. The company stated its intent to pursue criminal organizations that globally exploit individuals through various platforms like messaging, dating, and social media apps, luring them into fraudulent investment schemes.
In the United States alone, consumers lost an estimated $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, with investment scams accounting for $5.7 billion, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission.
As Africa’s digital adoption accelerates, cyber threats have grown significantly. In June, INTERPOL reported that the most frequently encountered cybercrimes across the continent in 2024 included phishing, ransomware attacks, business email compromise, and digital sextortion.
To build credibility with their targets, the scammers would often simulate early “earnings” and then persuade victims to deposit real money into crypto accounts as part of a so-called next step in the process.
This tactic mirrors methods previously used by Nigerian national Peter Johnson’s Wealth Builders Network and the notorious Super Advertis scheme, operated by Chinese national Lin Daozhong, which defrauded Sierra Leoneans of billions in local currency.
Meta noted that these fraudsters frequently cycle users across different platforms (WhatsApp, TikTok, SMS, Telegram) to evade detection. However, the company assured users that new measures are being rolled out to counter these tactics. These include enhanced anti-scam features on WhatsApp and broader efforts to educate users through safety tips and in-app warnings.