July 26, 2024 By David Ruiz
Meta announced the take-down of 63,000 sextortion-related Instagram accounts in Nigeria alone.
The action was directed against a group known as Yahoo Boys, a loosely organized set of cybercriminals that largely operate out of Nigeria and specialize in different types of scams.
Meta took down a host of accounts, including some 2,500 that belonged to a coordinated group of around 20 criminals which primarily targeted adult men in the US.
Sextortion, the act of blackmailing individuals for cash in return for not leaking sensitive images and videos, has been a problem for many years. Sextortion and sextortion scams are sometimes carried out by people familiar with the target, but most of the time, cybercriminals who have no relationship to the victim are to blame.
Additionally, Meta took down around 7,200 assets, including 1,300 Facebook accounts, 200 Facebook Pages and 5,700 Facebook Groups, also based in Nigeria. These accounts provided training, scripts, and complete guides for conducting scams. Nigeria still grapples with its reputation for being a source of internet-era fraud (the “Nigerian Prince” email scam is engrained in the public’s mind), and some residents are reportedly tricked into becoming scammers through predatory “classes” and programs that promise wealth.
