Meta tightens grip on Yahoo Boys and deletes 1,600 accounts

Following the removal of around 7,200 Facebook accounts used for internet fraud, in July this year Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, removed another 1,600 Facebook groups linked to Yahoo Boys .

According to the company, the Facebook groups were removed because they attempted to organize, recruit and train new scammers. It also recently took down 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria used for scams extorting unsuspecting victims online.

A statement from the company said yesterday: “Yahoo Boys are banned under Meta’s Dangerous Organizations and Individuals Policy – ​​one of our strictest policies – which means we remove Yahoo Boys accounts engaged in this criminal activity whenever we become aware of it.

“While we have been removing infringing Yahoo Boys accounts for years, we are implementing new processes that will allow us to identify and remove these accounts more quickly.”

In addition to targeting scammers, Meta said it has introduced new security features aimed at protecting users, especially teens, from sextortion scams.

These measures include blocking suspicious teenage accounts and making it more difficult for fraudsters to access follower lists, which are often used to blackmail victims.

Yahoo Boys are online fraudsters whose nickname comes from the Yahoo messaging service, which became popular in Nigeria in the 2000s.

These scammers are the successors of 419 fraudsters, who promised to help foreigners get rich through letters, then emails, in exchange for an advance. A recent Bloomberg Businessweek expose highlighted the rise of financial sextortion in the United States, tracing many scams to Nigeria.

Two Nigerian brothers, Samuel Ogoshi, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, were recently sentenced to 17.5 years in US federal prison for a sextortion scam that led to a teenager’s suicide.

Sextortion is a horrific crime in which money-motivated scammers target young adults and teenagers around the world, threatening to expose their intimate images if they don’t get what they want, Meta explained.

The social media platform said that soon, users will no longer be able to capture or save fleeting images or videos sent via Instagram DM or Messenger, providing an extra layer of protection.

Additionally, the company is globally rolling out a nudity protection feature in Instagram DMs, which will blur images containing nudity and warn users of the associated risks. This feature will be enabled by default for teenagers under 18 years old.

“We will continue to evolve our defenses to help protect our community from sextortion criminals. This includes helping teens and their families recognize these scams as early as possible, stopping potential fraudsters from reaching their targets, and working with our peers to combat these criminals on every app they use.” , added Meta.

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