Meta Platforms announced on Wednesday, July 24 that it has shut down over 63,000 accounts in Nigeria that were involved in financial sexual extortion scams, which were targeted mostly at adult men in the United States, .
The “Yahoo boys,” a group of Nigerian internet scammers, are well-known for their elaborate schemes, which include posing as needy individuals or promising exceptional returns on investments.
In a statement, Meta said that the 63,000 accounts were on Instagram and that 7,200 Facebook pages, groups, and accounts that offered ideas on scamming unsuspecting persons had also been deleted.
A lesser coordinated network of about 2,500 that was connected to a group of about 20 people was also taken down by the social media firm.
In sexual extortion, often known as “sextortion,” victims are threatened with the publication of incriminating images, which may be genuine or fabricated, unless they pay a demanded amount of money, amongst other kinds of schemes.
The bulk of the con artists’ endeavors were fruitless; while they mostly targeted adults, Meta also discovered attempts made against youngsters, which was reported to the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Representatives of Meta stated that they have previously interfered with these networks, but they were revealing the current situation in order to “raise awareness.”
In recent years, the social media company has found itself under increased pressure from governments and lawmakers, particularly in the US, where Meta is headquartered, to address allegations that its executives have disregarded data indicating that its services are harmful to minors.
During a hearing held earlier this year, a U.S. lawmaker charged Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, and other prominent figures in the social media industry with having “blood on their hands” for their failure to safeguard minors from the growing risks of sexual assault on their platforms.
In order to serve as a reminder of these risks, the U.S. Surgeon General has also urged for the addition of a warning label on social networking apps.
Nigerian scams gained prominence as “419 scams” which derives from the section of the national penal code of the country that criminalizes fraud.
Online frauds have become increasingly prevalent as the nation of more than 200 million people continue to experience increasing economic hardships.
The perpetrators of these scams typically operate out of wealthy neighborhoods, shanty suburbs, or university hostels.
According to Meta, some of the accounts involved were actually offering advise, tips or guidance on how to pull off successful scams.
“Their efforts included offering to sell scripts and guides to use when scamming people, and sharing links to collections of photos to use when populating fake accounts,” the report said.
