Meta cleaned up its platforms this year removing more than 2-million accounts that ran fake-investment schemes. These profiles were part of a wide-spread internet fraud network
The company found out about so-called pig-butchering scams: a scheme where bad actors create made-up personas (often showing good-looking singles or well-known people) to build trust with users. The scammers goal is simple - to make people send money for non-existing investments
The take-down shows how social-media companies fight back against on-line crime; which keeps finding new ways to trick users. These scams are well-planned and use professional-looking profiles to make everything look real but its all fake in the end
The fraudsters work step-by-step: first making friends then slowly pushing investment ideas - a process that can last weeks or months before asking for money. The whole thing is like a slow-cooking scheme where victims dont see the trap coming until its too late