Meta and Law Enforcement Disrupt Southeast Asian Scam Centers; New Anti-Scam Tools Announced
Summary
Meta says Thai police arrested 21 suspects and it shut down more than 150,000 accounts linked to scam centers targeting users in the US, UK, and APAC. It also announced new scam alerts for WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger.
Key points
- Meta said the operation involved the FBI, the DOJ Scam Center Strike Force, and Thai police, and targeted scam centers in Southeast Asia.
- Thai police arrested 21 suspects, while Meta shut down more than 150,000 accounts it said were used by the scam centers.
- WhatsApp will warn users about potentially malicious device-linking attempts that could connect an attacker’s device to a victim’s account.
- Facebook will alert users to suspicious sent or received friend requests, using signals including few mutual friends, a recently created profile, and location differences.
- Messenger is adding a detection system to flag potential scams.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Law-enforcement and platform operation to disrupt scam centers, accompanied by the rollout of new anti-scam protections.
- Impact
- Thai Police arrested 21 suspects, and Meta shut down more than 150,000 accounts used by the scam centers. Meta also reported removing 159 million fraudulent ads in 2025. The scam centers targeted users in the US, UK, and APAC region. New tools alert WhatsApp users to potentially malicious device-linking attempts, Facebook users to suspicious friend requests, and Messenger users to potential scams.
Vendors
Products
FacebookThe company also unveiled a feature designed to protect Facebook users by alerting them to suspicious friend requests (both sent and received).Facebook MessengerFor Messenger, the social media giant announced an advanced detection system that flags potential scams.WhatsAppOne of them warns WhatsApp users of potentially malicious device-linking attempts, which scammers leverage to trick users into linking the attacker’s device to the victim’s account.