Meta busted a big investment scam racket running in India by removing thousands of fake Facebook accounts, in which people were being trapped through Deepfake videos and fake apps.

Meta has taken major action against those who cheated people in the name of investment on the social media platform Facebook. The company said that it has removed more than 23,000 fake accounts and pages, which were targeting users from India and Brazil.

These scammers created fake videos (Deepfakes) of famous YouTubers, cricketers, and business personalities to deceive people. In these videos, it was shown as if these people were promoting certain investment apps and gambling websites.

How did people get trapped?

Earlier, people were shown 'make money quickly' offers through social media posts. Then they were taken to chatting apps (like WhatsApp or Telegram) and advised to invest. After this, they were sent to a fake website that looked like Google Play Store, and from there they were asked to download gambling or fake investment apps.

What does Meta say?

Meta said, 'These scammers lure people to invest money in fake schemes, such as cryptocurrency, stock market or real estate, and promise huge returns.'

The company also said that many scammers were also active on 'Facebook Marketplace', who used to ask for advance payment from people by showing themselves as real sellers. In one trick, scammers deliberately send more money for something and then ask for a refund. Later, they cancel the real payment and run away with both the amounts.

What steps did Meta take?

Meta said that now it is 'increasing vigilance' on its platform. If an account looks suspicious or a user asks for payment before delivery, the user will be shown a warning.

Also, the company is now using facial recognition technology to catch scams running in the name of celebrities. This recognition process is optional, that is, users can turn it on at their own will.

Working in collaboration with the government

Meta said that it is promoting online security and digital awareness in collaboration with many agencies of the Government of India like Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) and Indian Cyber ​​Crime Center (I4C). The company has also conducted training workshops for police and other officials in 7 states of the country to deal with scams.