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WhatsApp deletes over 6.8m accounts linked to scams, Meta says


Many of the accounts were linked to criminal groups operating in South East Asia, the messaging app said.

The crackdown targets an increasingly common tactic in which criminals hijack WhatsApp accounts or add users to group chats promoting fake investment schemes and other scams. In one case, it worked with its owner Meta and ChatGPT-developer OpenAI to disrupt scams linked to a Cambodian criminal group that offered cash for likes on social media posts to promote a fake rent-a-scooter pyramid scheme. Authorities in the region have urged people to be wary of potential fraud and use anti-scam measures such as WhatsApp's two-step verification feature to help protect their accounts from being hijacked.

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