tech
March 11, 2026
Meta disables over 150,000 accounts in crackdown on south-east Asian scam networks
Company also launches tools to spot scammers as Thai police arrest 21 people
TL;DR
- Meta disabled over 150,000 accounts linked to Southeast Asian criminal scam centers.
- Thai police arrested 21 people as part of an international crackdown on these scam operations.
- The operation involved collaboration between Meta, Thai police, the FBI, and the US Justice Department.
- New protective tools are being launched by Meta, including alerts for suspicious friend requests on Facebook and warnings for fraudulent device-linking attempts on WhatsApp.
- These scam networks, often operating from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, have become increasingly sophisticated, targeting users globally with romance and cryptocurrency scams.
- The crackdown also included participation from agencies in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
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