Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, has removed 1,600 Facebook groups connected to Yahoo Boys—online fraudsters notorious for their internet scams.
The term “Yahoo Boys” originates from the use of the Yahoo email service, popular in Nigeria in the 2000s, and refers to a new generation of scammers following in the footsteps of the 419 fraudsters, who used letters and emails to promise wealth in exchange for advance fees.
This action, carried out last week, comes after a similar purge in July, when Meta deleted 7,200 Facebook accounts and pages. The company also recently removed 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria linked to financial sextortion scams.
Meta, in a statement, released on Thursday, said that these groups were being used to recruit, organise, and train new scammers. The company added, “Yahoo Boys are banned under Meta’s Dangerous Organisations and Individuals policy—one of our strictest policies—which means we remove Yahoo Boys’ accounts involved in criminal activity as soon as we identify them.”
Meta added that while it has been removing such accounts for years, it is implementing faster processes to tackle the issue more efficiently.
In addition to cracking down on scammers, Meta has introduced new safety features designed to protect users, especially teenagers, from sextortion scams. These include blocking suspicious accounts from following teens and limiting scammers’ ability to view follower lists, which are often exploited to blackmail victims.
“We’re constantly updating our defences to protect our community from sextortion schemes. This includes educating teens and their families to recognize scams early, preventing scammers from reaching their targets, and collaborating with industry peers to fight these criminals across platforms,” Meta averred.
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