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Meta has announced the removal of about 63,000 Nigerian Facebook accounts involved in financial and sexual extortion scams.
Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, made this announcement on Wednesday.
Meta explained that the removal of the accounts was necessary to stop online scammers in Nigeria, adding that, "The accounts were linked to individuals using Meta’s social media services to blackmail targets after soliciting intimate photos."
Meta announced that it had also deleted thousands of additional accounts, pages, and groups that were distributing scripts on how to blackmail and sexually extort users.
It said the Facebook accounts were involved in financial and sexual extortion scams, primarily targeting adult men in the United States.
It equally said investigation showed that most of the scammers’ attempts were unsuccessful.
Meta utilised new technical signals to identify and combat sextortion activities.
Online scams have grown in Nigeria as economic hardships worsen in the country of more than 200 million people.
