The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
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Meta has announced that WhatsApp has removed over 6.8 million accounts in the first half of this year due to their involvement in global scam operations.
Many of these accounts were connected to organized crime rings in Southeast Asia, which reportedly relied on forced labor to run their fraudulent schemes.
The action comes as WhatsApp introduces new anti-scam tools, including alerts for users when they’re added to group chats by unknown contacts — a tactic commonly used by scammers. Criminals frequently hijack accounts or lure people into fake investment groups to carry out their scams.
Meta stated that WhatsApp identified and disabled many of these accounts before they could be fully activated by scam operators.
In one example, WhatsApp collaborated with Meta and OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) to disrupt a Cambodian-based fraud ring that used AI-generated instructions to push a fake rent-a-scooter pyramid scheme, offering cash in exchange for social media engagement.
Typically, scammers start with a text message and then move to messaging platforms like WhatsApp to continue the deception, often concluding the scam on payment or crypto platforms.
Meta warned users to be cautious of any offer requiring upfront payment in exchange for promised returns — a common red flag.
Scam centres operating from countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand are said to defraud people of billions each year. Victims are sometimes tricked into working for these syndicates under coercion.
Authorities across the region are encouraging users to stay alert and adopt safety features like WhatsApp’s two-step verification. In Singapore, police have advised the public to be cautious of unexpected or suspicious messages on chat apps.
