Meta said on Wednesday (Sep 23) that it has removed or restricted millions of scam-linked “shell pages” and accounts on Facebook and Instagram this year, aided by intelligence from the Singapore police.
The bulk of the action involved 3.64 million so-called “shell pages” that had not yet been used for scams but were set up as infrastructure that could later be activated for scam campaigns, said Meta. Meta described shell pages as a “newer scam vector” identified through its ongoing information-sharing collaboration with the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
“These pages look empty and harmless – no ads or violating content. But scammers had pre-built infrastructure, ready to be activated for scam campaigns at a moment’s notice,” said Meta in a press release.The takedowns are part of a two-year effort between Meta and the police to build an information-sharing partnership that proactively identifies and removes scam content, rather than responding to individual reports.
“This collaboration focuses on proactive network disruption – where SPF information helps Meta’s investigators identify and dismantle entire ecosystems of bad actors,” said Meta.
Similarly, it said, Meta’s information aided SPF in the arrest of seven men last year for their suspected involvement in a transnational unlawful remote betting operation.
CNA
