Wed, 06 Aug 2025

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 WhatsApp deletes over 6.8m accounts linked to scams, Meta says

Many of the accounts were linked to criminal groups operating in South East Asia, the social media giant said.

* WhatsApp removed 6.8 million accounts linked to scammers in the first half of this year, with many tied to scam centres in South East Asia.
* Many of these scam centres use forced labour and target people around the world with fake investment schemes and other scams.
* Meta has rolled out new anti-scam measures for WhatsApp, including alerts for potential fraudulent activity such as being added to group chats by unknown users.
* Scammers often hijack accounts or add users to group chats promoting fake investment schemes and other scams.
* The scammers typically use social media or private messaging apps to complete their scams on payment or cryptocurrency platforms.
* Authorities in South East Asia have warned people to be wary of potential fraud and to use anti-scam measures such as WhatsApp's two-step verification feature.
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