Meta has removed around 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria that they suspect attempted to engage in financial sexual extortion scams.
The company said the accounts “targeted primarily adult men in the U.S. and used fake accounts to mask their identities“. It described this behaviour as “sextortion“.
Nigerian online fraudsters, known as “Yahoo boys,” are notorious for scams that range from passing themselves off as people in financial need to Nigerian princes offering an outstanding return on investment.
Meta – the owner of Facebook and Instagram social apps, said the removed accounts also included a smaller coordinated network of around 2,500 linked to a group of around 20 individuals. It’s important to note that most of the scammers’ attempts were unsuccessful, which is a testament to the effectiveness of Meta’s actions. There were also attempts against minors, but these, too, were thwarted.
The company used a combination of new technical signals developed to help identify sex extortion.
Nigeria’s scammers became known as “419 scams” after the section of the national penal code that dealt with fraud.
As economic hardships worsen in Nigeria, online scams have grown, with those behind them operating from university dormitories, shanty suburbs, or affluent neighborhoods.
Comment, Like 👍, share this article, and Follow us on our social media handles.
WhatsApp Channel
Telegram Channel
