Meta Shuts Down More Than 2 Million Accounts Tied to ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams in 2024

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has revealed in a recent update that it has shut down approximately 2 million accounts linked to “pig butchering” scams this year. These scams, characterized by elaborate social engineering tactics, have become widespread, prompting Meta to concentrate its enforcement efforts on Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines. Notably, the United Arab Emirates has also emerged as a hub for such operations.

Meta’s approach to tackling these scams is guided by its Dangerous Organizations and Individuals Policy (DOI), which leverages insights from both internal experts and external stakeholders. Once entities are classified as DOIs, they are banned from Meta’s platforms and subjected to a suite of enforcement measures.

The company emphasized its use of advanced detection techniques, stating, “We continue to update behavioral and technical signals associated with these hubs to enhance automated detection and block malicious infrastructure and repeat offenders.” Meta has also collaborated with law enforcement agencies, such as the Royal Thai Police, to disrupt scam networks across the region.

In a notable instance, Meta partnered with industry peers to target a scam compound in Cambodia aimed at Japanese and Chinese-speaking victims. This operation leveraged information shared by OpenAI, which identified and disrupted the scammers’ use of AI tools for content generation and translation.

Globally, these scam operations are often tied to regions with legalized online gaming or lax online gaming regulations. In response, many jurisdictions are intensifying efforts to combat such illicit activities.

The Philippines has taken decisive action, cracking down on offshore gaming operators (POGOs) linked to various illegal activities. With a full ban on POGOs set for the end of the year, recent raids and arrests demonstrate the government’s commitment to curbing their harmful effects.

However, as enforcement increases in one area, scammers are adapting by shifting their operations to less-regulated regions, such as the Golden Triangle. This underscores the challenge of dismantling sophisticated, multinational scam networks that continuously exploit jurisdictional gaps to evade detection.

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