Meta Disables 150,000 Scam Accounts in Global Crackdown

The operation was conducted in coordination with the Royal Thai Police Anti-Cyber Scam Center and law enforcement agencies from several countries. Thai authorities arrested 21 individuals suspected of involvement in the scam networks during the enforcement drive.

According to Meta, the accounts were associated with scam centres believed to be operating in countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where criminal groups have established sophisticated operations that resemble legitimate businesses. These networks have been targeting victims globally through schemes involving romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud and impersonation of law enforcement officials.

The crackdown followed an earlier pilot operation in December that resulted in the removal of around 59,000 scam-linked accounts, pages and groups across Meta’s platforms and led to multiple arrest warrants.

The latest effort was part of a broader international initiative involving agencies from countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.

According to reports cooperation between technology platforms and law enforcement agencies was critical in tackling cross-border cybercrime networks.

Alongside the enforcement action, the company also announced new safety tools across Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp aimed at helping users identify scams earlier.

These include alerts for suspicious friend requests on Facebook, warnings on WhatsApp when users receive device-linking attempts that could signal account takeover, and an AI-powered review feature on Messenger that scans conversations for common scam patterns such as fraudulent job offers.

Meta said scammers are increasingly shifting from large-scale mass fraud schemes to more targeted tactics, often impersonating regulators, lawyers or law enforcement officials to pressure victims into paying fake fines or sharing account credentials.