Tens of thousands of Instagram accounts that lured victims into sending explicit photos and then blackmailed them have been removed from Meta’s platform.
Meta said the network was linked to Yahoo Boys, a group of scammers who target internet users with a variety of tactics, including sexual blackmail. This week, the company removed more than 63,000 accounts in Nigeria for the practice.
Sextortion is a form of cybercrime in which the perpetrator forces the victim to send sensitive images or videos, then threatens to release them unless payment is made. Initially, they often use fake or stolen accounts, get to know the victim through social networks, use tricks to build feelings, create trust, and then convince the victim to share sensitive photos. In the next stage, the scammer threatens to release the information to friends, family, or publicly if the victim does not pay.
According to information from Meta, the discovered accounts mostly target men in the US, including minors. The company also discovered small groups of accounts operating as a network, including 2,500 accounts belonging to about 20 different individuals. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg's company also deleted 1,300 Facebook accounts, 200 pages, and 5,700 groups that specialized in providing data and instructions on scams.
The platform reviews sextortion scams that have been on the rise in recent years and have appeared on many social networks. This behavior can cause serious consequences, including some cases of victims committing suicide.
Earlier this year, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also warned about this situation. According to the FBI report, from October 2022 to March 2023, the number of related extortion cases recorded increased by 20%, in which the majority of victims were male, aged 14-17. The criminal groups come from West African countries such as Nigeria and Ivory Coast, or Southeast Asia such as the Philippines.
Meta said it has developed a number of features to prevent the problem, such as blurring photos that are detected as nude, blocking messages from strangers for users under 16, and automatically detecting and warning accounts at risk of fraud.