Meta and Singapore Police dismantle scam networks
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Meta removed 3.7 million scam-linked pages and accounts from Facebook and Instagram this year, working with the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
Meta identified a new tactic where scammers create empty “shell pages” to quickly launch campaigns, and they proactively removed these pages before they could be used. This approach marks a shift from simply taking down individual scam accounts to disrupting entire networks of criminals.
Between January and June, Meta acted on information from the SPF to restrict over 113,000 fraudulent entities and pages, mostly targeting investment scams that promise high returns. The police also used data from Meta to arrest seven men last year involved in an illegal betting operation. In June, the two organizations collaborated to remove over 33,600 pages connected to e-commerce scams that used false advertising and created a false sense of urgency.
Daryl Poon, Meta’s director of law enforcement outreach for the Asia-Pacific region, stated that scammers assume no single organisation has a complete view of their operations. However, the partnership with the SPF allows Meta to identify and dismantle these networks before they harm more people. The effort also includes public education initiatives, such as the One Step Ahead campaign, which has reached 1.6 million people in Singapore and encourages users to enable security features.
