Meta has recently announced that it has taken down approximately 63,000 Facebook accounts in Nigeria that were involved in financial sextortion scams. Additionally, the social media platform removed groups and pages that were facilitating the organization, recruitment, and training of new scammers.
Sextortion, a form of sexual extortion, typically involves coercing individuals into sending explicit photos online and then threatening to expose these images unless a ransom is paid or sexual favors are provided. Recent incidents have highlighted the severity of this issue, such as two Nigerian brothers who pleaded guilty to sexually extorting teen boys and young men in Michigan, leading to tragic outcomes including suicide. Furthermore, a Virginia sheriff’s deputy was found guilty of sexually extorting and kidnapping a 15-year-old girl.
The prevalence of sextortion cases has been on the rise in recent years, partly due to the activities of a loosely connected group known as the Yahoo Boys, primarily based in Nigeria. Meta revealed that it has removed Facebook accounts and groups associated with this group under its policy targeting 'dangerous organizations and individuals.'
In January, the FBI issued a warning about a significant surge in sextortion cases targeting children, with a focus on boys aged 14 to 17. However, the FBI emphasized that any child could fall victim to such schemes.
Meta's investigation indicated that while most of the scammers' attempts were unsuccessful and mainly targeted adult men in the U.S., there were instances where minors were also targeted. Meta promptly reported such cases to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The removed accounts included a 'coordinated network' of approximately 2,500 accounts associated with a group of around 20 individuals who were managing them, according to Meta.
Recently, Meta unveiled new tools on Instagram aimed at safeguarding young users and combating sexual extortion. One of the features introduced is the automatic blurring of nudity in direct messages. These tools are currently undergoing testing as part of Meta's broader efforts to combat sexual scams and other forms of 'image abuse,' with the ultimate goal of making it more challenging for criminals to target teenagers.
