Meta acts against 3.7 million scammers' accounts with Singapore police help

Meta has taken action against over 3.7 million scam-related accounts, pages and content this year, in collaboration with the Singapore police force, the company announced on Wednesday. The Singapore Police Force has been aiding Meta's investigators in identifying and dismantling entire networks of scammers since a partnership began two years ago.

In the first half of the year, Meta removed more than 113,000 entities and pages related to fraud and scams on Facebook and Instagram, executives stated at a media briefing. Specifically, in June, Meta took down over 33,600 entities and pages associated with scammers attempting to exploit the upcoming school holidays when families actively search for travel deals online.

The majority of these entities were "shell pages" - inactive profiles that could be acquired by future scammers. Meta did not provide comparative data for previous years. The company noted that scammers operate across multiple platforms and countries, making it challenging for any single organization to fully grasp the extent of the issue.

However, by collaborating with the Singapore Police Force, Meta can better identify threats that might otherwise go unnoticed. Daryl Poon, director of law enforcement outreach for the Asia Pacific at Meta, emphasized that this partnership provides crucial insights into emerging threats. Poon explained, "Information given by the police helps us identify the threats we might not see on our own."

Meta's ability to act on a large scale enables the company to dismantle these networks before they can reach more victims. The collaboration with the Singapore Police Force is considered a model that Meta aims to expand both within the region and beyond. Clara Koh, director of public policy for Southeast Asia, highlighted the growing scale and sophistication of scammers, who now utilize artificial intelligence to create fake profiles, generate malicious code, and spread misinformation.

Meta is committed to investing in defenses across its platforms and swiftly addressing scam content before it can cause harm.