On Tuesday, August 5, Meta announced that it is strengthening protections against scams and that it closed around seven million WhatsApp accounts connected to scammers in the first half of this year.
Clair Deevy, director of WhatsApp’s external affairs division, stated, “Our team found the accounts and disabled them before the criminal organizations that created them could use them.” WhatsApp officials stated in a briefing that the scams, which are frequently operated by organized gangs, vary from get-rich-quick pyramid schemes to fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.
“There is always a catch, and it should be a red flag for everyone: you have to pay upfront to get promised returns or earnings,” a blog post stated by WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta.
WhatsApp detected and banned more than 6.8 million accounts linked to scam centres, most of them in Southeast Asia, according to Meta.
WhatsApp and Meta worked with OpenAI to disrupt a scam traced to Cambodia that used ChatGPT to generate text messages containing a link to a WhatsApp chat to hook victims, according to the tech firms.
Meta began prompting WhatsApp users to be wary when added to unfamiliar chat groups by people they do not know.
New “safety overviews” provide information about the group and tips on spotting scams, along with the option of making a quick exit.
“We’ve all been there: someone you don’t know attempting to message you, or add you to a group chat, promising low-risk investment opportunities or easy money, or saying you have an unpaid bill that’s overdue,” Meta said in a blog post.
“The reality is, these are often scammers trying to prey on people’s kindness, trust and willingness to help – or, their fears that they could be in trouble if they don’t send money fast.”
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