So-called sextortion scams are on the rise, with Nigerian criminals frequently targeting adult men in the United States, according to social media giant Meta.
Meta announced Wednesday that it had removed about 63,000 accounts in Nigeria that were attempting to target people with sextortion-style financial scams. In this type of scam, criminals pose as someone else, usually an attractive woman, to try to trick potential victims into sending them nude photos of themselves. When they receive nude photos of themselves, the scammers then threaten to publish them unless the sender pays.
Meta’s crackdown on sextortion included removing 200 pages and 5,700 Facebook groups, all based in Nigeria, that provided tips for carrying out the scams, including scripts for talking to victims. The groups also included links to collections of photos that scammers could use to create fake accounts to trick their victims, Meta said.
Meta also tests new technology This could deter victims from falling for sextortion scams, like a new auto-blur feature in Instagram DMs that will blur images if nudity is detected, the company said.
“First of all, it goes without saying that financial sextortion is a horrific crime and can have devastating consequences,” Antigone Davis, Meta’s global head of security, said in a call with reporters. “That’s why we’re particularly focused on this topic right now.”
According to a recent study by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Thorn, a nonprofit that uses technology to combat the spread of child sexual abuse material, the most common platforms for sextortion scams are Instagram, owned by Meta, and Snapchat. Most sextortion scams originate in Nigeria or Ivory Coast, according to the study.
Blind Scammers
Meta said she has found that scammers are “indiscriminate,” sending requests to many people in order to get a few responses, Davis said. While most of the attempts have been sent to adult men in the United States, Meta has found that some scammers are trying to reach teenagers, she added.
Some of the Facebook accounts, pages and groups taken down by Meta were run by the Yahoo Boys, a loose federation of scammers operating out of Nigeria, Davis said.
The FBI sought to highlight the problem of Financial sextortion scams targeting teensThe agency said at least 20 child victims of the scams have committed suicide. Many victims experience fear, embarrassment and concern about long-term consequences, according to the Thorn and NCMEC report.
Social media users should be wary if an account with a “highly stylized, particularly beautiful” photo contacts them or asks to exchange messages, Davis said. “If you’ve never received a message from this person before, it should give you pause,” she added.
“If someone sends you an image first, it’s often to try to get you to send a second image, or to try to gain and build trust,” Davis noted. “It’s one of those areas where, if you have any suspicions, I would recommend you be cautious.”
Social media users should also check their privacy settings for messaging, she recommended. For example, users can control their Facebook Messenger settings to filter who they can receive messages from, such as blocking people other than their Facebook friends.
