In response to the escalating, multibillion-dollar global crisis of pig butchering scams, social media giant Meta has released information for the first time on Thursday about its approach to combating the forced-labor compounds that fuel scam activity on its platforms and across the web. According to the company, it has been collaborating with global law enforcement and other tech companies for more than two years to address the underlying problem of organized crime syndicates driving scam activity in Southeast Asia and the United Arab Emirates.
Meta reports that it has taken down over 2 million accounts connected to scam compounds in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the UAE so far this year. The company has also been working with external experts, including tech companies, NGOs, and coalitions, to counter online scams. However, as pig butchering scams generate significant revenue for criminals and spread around the world, Meta acknowledges that it has focused on working with law enforcement to directly track criminal syndicates.
A Meta spokesperson stated, “This is a highly adversarial space where we expect well-resourced and persistent criminal organizations to constantly evolve their tactics (both online and offline) in response to detection and enforcement to try and reconstitute across the internet.” The company has not disclosed the number of accounts it had removed prior to this year.
While Meta’s efforts to combat pig butchering scams are commendable, longtime researchers in this field say that the company has been slow to publicly and directly acknowledge the problem and the role its platforms play in connecting scammers with potential victims. They also point out that Meta’s services are not the only platforms used by scammers to reach victims. However, due to the global recognition and trust of platforms like Facebook and Instagram, it is inevitable that scammers will gravitate towards them. Meta has previously warned its users about investment and romance scams.
Ronnie Tokazowski, a longtime pig butchering researcher and cofounder of the nonprofit Intelligence for Good, says, “I’m glad that Meta is finally starting to talk about this work, but in the research community, we feel like we’ve been trying to get their attention for a long time and collaborate with them, and they often aren’t engaging with us.” Since 2020, when the earliest pig butchering scams emerged, over 200,000 people have been trafficked and held in compounds, mostly in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, where they are forced to play the role of an online scammer. Those who refuse are often beaten or tortured by the criminals who own the scam compounds, which are typically connected to Chinese organized crime. People from over 60 countries have been trafficked, often after seeing online ads promising them too-good-to-be-true jobs.
The forced scammers are compelled to send thousands of online messages to potential victims around the world, generating significant profits for the criminals. While Meta’s efforts are a step in the right direction, it is clear that more needs to be done to combat the growing issue of pig butchering scams.
