WhatsApp Wipes Out Widespread Scam Syndicates
WhatsApp, one of the world’s most popular messaging platforms, now has over 2.95 billion users globally. The platform has banned 6.8 million accounts suspected of links to “scam centers” or fraud rings.
According to its parent company, Meta, these account closures took place in the first half of 2025.
In a statement, Meta said, “In many cases, criminal networks were operating such scam rings. Often, they were run through forced labor, primarily in Southeast Asia.”
These syndicates systematically set up elaborate fraud traps — from enticing people to invest in cryptocurrency with promises of massive returns, to luring victims on social media with offers designed to deceive.
Meta explained that scammers typically began by contacting targeted users through text messages. This would be followed by interactions via social media and private messaging apps. To entice targets, the criminal networks presented supposed “success stories” as examples to gain trust.
In many fraud cases, criminals maintained contact with their targets across multiple platforms, making it difficult for any single company to piece together the complete picture of the scam, Meta noted.
WhatsApp is used by hundreds of millions of people in almost every city worldwide. On average, more than 100 billion messages are exchanged on the platform daily, including over 700 million photos and more than 100 million videos.
