NEW YORK CITY, New York: Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has announced that it removed 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts in the first half of the year due to their ties with international scam networks.

These accounts were linked to organized criminal "scam centers" operating across borders, targeting people through online fraud.

The mass takedown is part of Meta's broader effort to fight online scams, which have become more frequent and sophisticated. In a statement released this week, Meta said it is also introducing new tools on WhatsApp to help users identify and avoid scams. One such feature is a safety notice that appears when someone not in your contact list adds you to a group chat. Another ongoing test will prompt users to pause before replying to suspicious messages.

According to Meta, criminal scam centers, often run through forced labor and organized crime, are among the most active sources of digital fraud. These scammers frequently switch platforms to avoid detection, sometimes beginning on dating apps or SMS and then moving to social media or payment platforms.

Meta cited recent scam campaigns that used Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Telegram, and even ChatGPT to spread fraudulent schemes. These included fake offers to pay for social media engagement, pyramid schemes, and misleading cryptocurrency investment pitches.

One such campaign, reportedly run from a scam center in Cambodia, was disrupted by Meta in collaboration with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT. The scammers had been using AI-generated messages to trick users and expand their operations across platforms.

With scams growing more elaborate, Meta is urging users to remain cautious and use the new security tools being rolled out across its services.