Why Meta took down 11 million Facebook and Instagram accounts

Online scams are rapidly evolving and often become hard to detect. Several daily usage apps, including networking platforms, are already facing a surge in complaints related to fraudulent activities and organised scam operations. To curb these, Meta has stepped in by taking efforts to tackle online scams. As a first step, the tech giant has removed millions of accounts from its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. The company has said that it took down more than 10.9 million accounts linked to scam networks over the past year. Also Read: Elon Musk’s X Money payments feature to begin early access in April

Accounts linked to scam operations

According to Meta, the removed accounts were connected to organised scam centres that operate across multiple online platforms. These networks often create fake profiles and pages to reach out to potential victims. In many cases, they pretend to be celebrities, businesses, or people offering financial advice. Also Read: Meta introduced new 'Anti-Scam' tools on WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger

Meta said a large number of these scams involve impersonation. Scammers may act as well-known personalities or brands to gain trust before asking users for money or personal details. In some cases, they also share links that lead to websites designed to look like legitimate platforms. Also Read: Google Pay Users Should Know These Important Safety Tips

The company added that scam operations have become more organised over time, with groups using multiple accounts to run these schemes across different platforms.

AI systems used to detect scams

To deal with such activity, Meta said it is relying more on artificial intelligence to detect suspicious behaviour. The company explained that newer AI systems can analyse multiple signals at the same time, including text, images, and surrounding context.

This allows Meta to detect patterns that may indicate impersonation or fraudulent links. The company said these systems help identify scam attempts earlier, sometimes before users report them.

Meta also shared that it removed more than 159 million scam advertisements last year. According to the company, around 92 percent of those ads were taken down before users flagged them.

New warnings across apps

Alongside account removals, Meta is introducing new alerts across its apps to help users spot suspicious activity.

For example, on Facebook the platform may show alerts when users receive friend requests from accounts that look unusual. This could include profiles with very few mutual connections, recently created accounts, or profiles that appear to be based in a different location.

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WhatsApp is also adding alerts during device linking to warn users if a request looks suspicious. In addition, Messenger will now warn users if conversations show patterns often linked to scams, such as fake job offers or requests for money.