Meta has worked with the DOJ, Microsoft, Coinbase, Starlink, and international law enforcement to dismantle online scams and identify the criminal syndicates behind them. The company has received widespread criticism for allowing scammers to run rampant on its platforms and SO reportedly makes billions of dollars every year from advertising marketing scams. This particular operation focuses on criminal networks operating in Southeast Asia, which target Americans with romance scams, “pig butchery” schemes, and identity theft by law enforcement. They also offer fake jobs to their fellow Southeast Asians, who find themselves forced to work in fraudulent resorts.
Throughout the week that began May 18, Meta, along with Microsoft, Coinbase, Starlink, the Department of Justice, the Royal Thai Police, and other law enforcement partners from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, gathered in Washington, DC, to share ideas. This helped them “connect the dots between disparate information across platforms.” Meta says it is the first of its kind to include cooperation between companies in the sector.
Through this operation, Meta was able to identify and deactivate more than 1.4 million Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups. Microsoft suspended 20,000 accounts used by fraudsters, while Coinbase froze more than $3 million in cryptocurrency linked to criminal networks. During this time, Starlink disconnected thousands of kits that it believed were being used by fraudsters. By exchanging information, they were also able to identify other potential scam hub locations, and law enforcement has arrested 63 suspects so far.
Although they did not reveal next steps, Meta said that “the participating companies remain committed to continuing this important collaboration to protect people online.” Meta has been trying to fend off scammers for years and has already removed more than 2 million accounts linked to pig slaughter schemes, in which bad actors trick victims into making crypto investments (or similar schemes) before disappearing with their funds.
As someone who personally reports obvious scams and is often told by Meta that it hasn’t removed the offending pages and accounts, I would say the company’s criticisms are justified. That said, Meta has stepped up its actions against deceptive schemes and fraudulent activities. It removed 159 million fraudulent ads and 10.9 million Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to criminal scam hubs over the course of 2025. The company also sued advertisers in Brazil and China for fraudulent ads using fake images of celebrities to trick people into defrauding websites. Last March, Meta also rolled out AI tools to identify brand and celebrity impersonators, as well as alerts to warn users if they potentially communicate with fraudulent accounts.
