Meta Takes Down 63,000 Instagram 'Sextortion' Accounts In Nigeria

(RTTNews) - Meta Platforms (META) announced that it has removed around 63,000 Instagram accounts, running financial sextortion scams in Nigeria.

"Financial sextortion is a borderless crime, fueled in recent years by the increased activity of Yahoo Boys, loosely organized cybercriminals operating largely out of Nigeria that specialize in different types of scams", the Facebook-parent explained.

The scammers usually targeted adult men in the U.S. by using fake accounts. However, further investigation by the tech giant revealed that they also targeted minors. Such accounts were then reported to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Since the fraudsters usually blackmail people by using sexually explicit images, Meta has started testing an on-device nudity protection feature in Instagram DMs, "which will blur images detected as containing nudity, encourage people to be cautious when sending sensitive images and direct people to safety tips and resources".

The California-based company has also developed new technologies to identify accounts that are potentially engaging in such scams. It is also taking steps to protect teenagers from engaging with scammers.

Additionally, Meta removed around 7,200 assets, including 1,300 Facebook accounts, 200 Facebook Pages and 5,700 Facebook Groups, also based in Nigeria, which were trying to organize and train new scammers.

"We will continue to focus on understanding how they operate so we can stay one step ahead, and will continue our vital cooperation with child safety experts, law enforcement and the tech industry to help disrupt these criminals across all the platforms they use", Meta stated.