Meta announced on Wednesday that it had removed around 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria that attempted to engage in financial sexual extortion scams, primarily targeting adult men in the United States. These scams, often perpetrated by Nigerian online fraudsters known as “Yahoo boys,” involve threatening to release compromising photos unless payment is made.
The removed accounts included a smaller coordinated network of around 2,500 accounts linked to a group of approximately 20 individuals. “They targeted primarily adult men in the U.S. and used fake accounts to mask their identities,” Meta said.
The investigation revealed that the majority of the scammers’ attempts were unsuccessful, but some attempts targeted minors, which Meta reported to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S. Meta used a combination of new technical signals to identify sex extortion.
Nigeria’s scammers, known for “419 scams,” have grown in number as economic hardships worsen in the country. They operate from various locations, including university dormitories and affluent neighborhoods. Some removed accounts provided tips for conducting scams, including selling scripts and guides, and sharing links to collections of photos for populating fake accounts.
Meta’s efforts aim to combat online scams and protect users from financial sexual extortion. The company’s actions demonstrate its commitment to safety and security on its platforms.
Reuters
