Meta takes action against 3.7 million scam-linked 'shell pages' and accounts in partnership with Singapore police

Meta says the takedowns mark a shift from removing individual accounts to dismantling entire scam networks.

File photo of a logo of Meta Platforms. (Photo: Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas)

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SINGAPORE: 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.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less 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.

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.

More than 3.6 million shell pages were taken down in July. (Image: Meta)

TACKLING INVESTMENT AND E-COMMERCE SCAMS

Building on information from SPF, Meta took action against more than 113,000 entities and pages connected to fraud and scams on Facebook and Instagram between January and June. Most of the content involved investment scams, where victims are lured with promises of guaranteed or high returns.

“The information shared by SPF resulted in Meta actioning more than five times the number of assets flagged,” said the firm.

“That's not just accounts being taken down one by one. It's the dismantling of interconnected networks where disabling one node leads investigators to connected scammers.”

Meta and SPF also conducted an operation in June this year to tackle e-commerce scams in anticipation of the school holiday and the seasonal rise in scams, taking action against more than 33,600 entities.

This included e-commerce scams which promoted misleading pricing, fake promotional tactics for well-known brands, exaggerated product claims and a sense of urgency and scarcity, said Meta.

"Scammers count on the fact that no single organisation sees the full picture. What we've built with the Singapore Police Force turns that assumption on its head,” said Mr Daryl Poon, Meta’s director of law enforcement outreach for the Asia-Pacific region.

“Their information helps us identify threats we might not see on our own, and our ability to act at scale means those networks can be dismantled before they reach more people.”

E-commerce scams often have misleading pricing and exaggerated product claims. (Image: Meta)

IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION

Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Wong, commander of the SPF’s Cyber Command, said that the SPF has long recognised that tackling sophisticated scam networks requires collaboration with international and private stakeholders.

“By partnering closely with industry partners, we can share scam signals that allow our partners to take action to disrupt the criminal infrastructure behind these scams,” he said.

“This recent operation demonstrates the power of police and private sector collaboration – scam infrastructure was decisively taken down, cutting off scammers’ ability to defraud Singaporeans.”

Meta, SPF and the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) have also collaborated on public education campaigns designed to protect Singaporeans from scams.

This includes the One Step Ahead campaign, which encourages the public to turn on in-app security features to enhance account protection, such as two-factor authentication and passkeys for Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp security features such as Linked Device Notifications, said Meta.

The campaign also promotes local resources such as the ScamShield website where users can learn more about different scam types and how to stay safe, said the tech giant.

The campaign has reached 1.6 million people in Singapore, said Meta.

“Scams are a global industry, run across platforms, apps, and borders. Meta’s work with the Singapore Police Force shows that shared information, acted on quickly, changes the equation. Because the best defence against organised crime is an equally organised response,” said Meta.

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Meta表示，此次打击行动标志着打击力度从删除单个账户转向瓦解整个诈骗网络。

Meta Platforms 的标志照片（资料图片）。（图片：路透社/Francis Mascarenhas）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：Meta公司周三（9月23日）表示，在新加坡警方的协助下，该公司今年已在Facebook和Instagram上删除或限制了数百万个与诈骗有关的“空壳页面”和账户。

Meta表示，此次行动的大部分涉及364万个所谓的“空壳页面”，这些页面尚未用于诈骗，但已作为基础设施建立，以便日后激活用于诈骗活动。

Meta 将空壳网站描述为一种“较新的诈骗手段”，这是通过与新加坡警察部队 (SPF) 持续的信息共享合作而发现的。

Meta在一份新闻稿中表示：“这些页面看起来空空如也，无害无害——没有广告，也没有违规内容。但诈骗分子已经预先搭建好了基础设施，随时可以启动诈骗活动。”

CNA Games 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小谜题，脑力挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 这些打击行动是 Meta 与警方为期两年合作的一部分，旨在建立信息共享伙伴关系，主动识别并移除诈骗内容，而不是被动地应对个别举报。Meta 表示：“此次合作的重点是主动破坏网络——SPF 的信息帮助 Meta 的调查人员识别并瓦解整个不良行为者生态系统。” Meta 还表示，同样地，去年 Meta 提供的信息也帮助 SPF 逮捕了七名涉嫌参与跨国非法远程赌博活动的男子。

此次下架行动是 Meta 与警方为期两年的合作的一部分，旨在建立信息共享伙伴关系，主动识别和删除诈骗内容，而不是被动地回应个别举报。

Meta表示：“此次合作的重点是主动破坏网络——SPF信息可以帮助Meta的调查人员识别并瓦解整个恶意行为者的生态系统。”

报告还指出，Meta提供的信息也帮助新加坡警察部队去年逮捕了7名涉嫌参与跨国非法远程赌博活动的男子。

7月份有超过360万个空网站页面被关闭。（图片来源：Meta）

打击投资和电子商务诈骗

根据SPF提供的信息，Meta在1月至6月期间对Facebook和Instagram上超过11.3万个与欺诈和诈骗相关的实体和页面采取了行动。其中大部分内容涉及投资诈骗，受害者被承诺获得保证或高额回报而上当受骗。

该公司表示：“SPF分享的信息使得Meta采取行动的资产数量是标记资产数量的五倍多。”

“这不仅仅是逐个注销账户，而是瓦解相互关联的网络，禁用一个节点就能让调查人员找到相关的诈骗分子。”

今年 6 月，Meta 和 SPF 还开展了一项行动，打击电子商务诈骗，以应对学校假期和诈骗活动的季节性增长，对超过 33,600 个实体采取了行动。

Meta表示，这包括电子商务诈骗，其手段包括误导性定价、知名品牌的虚假促销策略、夸大产品宣传以及营造紧迫感和稀缺感。

“诈骗分子正是利用了这样一个事实：没有任何一个机构能够掌握全部情况。我们与新加坡警方合作建立的机制彻底颠覆了这种假设，”Meta亚太地区执法拓展总监潘达里尔先生说道。

“他们的信息有助于我们识别自己可能无法发现的威胁，而我们大规模采取行动的能力意味着我们可以在这些网络扩散到更多人之前将其瓦解。”

电子商务诈骗通常采用误导性定价和夸大产品功效的手段。（图片来源：Meta）

合作的重要性

新加坡警察部队网络指挥部指挥官、高级助理警务处长黄俊雄表示，新加坡警察部队长期以来一直认识到，打击复杂的诈骗网络需要与国际和私营部门的利益相关者合作。

他说：“通过与行业伙伴紧密合作，我们可以共享诈骗信号，使我们的伙伴能够采取行动，打击这些诈骗背后的犯罪网络。”

“最近的这次行动展现了警方和私营部门合作的力量——诈骗基础设施被果断摧毁，切断了诈骗分子欺骗新加坡人的能力。”

Meta、新加坡警察部队和国家预防犯罪理事会（NCPC）也合作开展了旨在保护新加坡人免受诈骗侵害的公共教育活动。

Meta表示，这其中包括“领先一步”活动，该活动鼓励公众启用应用程序内的安全功能以增强帐户保护，例如Facebook和Instagram的双因素身份验证和密码，以及WhatsApp的安全功能，例如关联设备通知。

该科技巨头表示，此次活动还推广了 ScamShield 等本地资源，用户可以在该网站上了解更多关于不同类型诈骗以及如何保护自己的信息。

Meta表示，该活动已覆盖新加坡160万人。

“诈骗是一个全球性的产业，跨越平台、应用程序和国界。Meta与新加坡警方的合作表明，共享信息并迅速采取行动可以改变局面。因为对抗有组织犯罪的最佳防御措施就是同样有组织的应对措施，”Meta说道。

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