Meta Trying To Overcome Pig Butchering Fraud Mode Around The World

Meta is after the pig butchering fraud group (photo: dock. Pixabay)

JAKARTA Meta says that fraud on social media is getting more sophisticated so they are trying to eradicate it. One of the fraud models that is considered quite dangerous is pig butchering.

This scam is considered very dangerous, even terrible, because the criminals behind it are trying to build a relationship with the victims first. They will attract the victim's confidence, then manipulate it.

"(This criminal will) build a trusted personal relationship online with someone just to manipulate them into depositing more and more money into an investment scheme, often using cryptocurrencies, and eventually losing that money," Meta said in its report.

Based on the results of the Meta investigation, this fraud went on massively and the criminals settled in an organized manner in Southeast Asia during the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite their base in Asia, these fraudsters are targeting victims from various parts of the world.

Apart from being in a relationship with the victim, these scammers often trick the victim with the lure of very good job vacancies. In the end, these victims are forced to work as online fraudsters and are threatened with physical violence.

"We consider that most of the fraud center activities are strictly regulated by criminal syndicates to scale up their operations," Meta said.

Pig butchering is considered the most advanced fraudulent model. According to US Peace Institute data, about 300 thousand people were forced to become criminal groups and the total loss reached 64 billion US dollars (Rp1,018 quadrillion) as of the end of last year.

Meta is trying to overcome this type of fraud by focusing on the fraud center in Cambodia. Over time, this group of fraudsters moved to several other countries such as Laos, Myanmar, and most recently the United Arab Emirates.

When viewed from how it works, this group contacts many people through dating apps, emails, text messages, social media, to messaging apps like WhatsApp. Fraudsters will manipulate victims and direct them to crypto apps or fraudulent investment webs.

"Targets may be allowed to withdraw a small amount of money to build trust, but once they start asking for their 'invest' back or it becomes clear that they don't have more funds to send to scammers, foreign fraudsters will usually disappear with all that money," Meta explained.

Over the past two years, Meta has been trying to overcome this fraud syndicate by forming a special team. They follow a group of frauds globally based on the policies of the Organization and Hazardous Individuals (DOI) and the company's safety policies.

This year, Meta has removed more than two million accounts linked to fraud centers in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines. Meta is also actively observing the actions and behavior of fraudsters and updating automatic detection signals on its platform.

Hingga saat ini, model penipuan pig butchering belum bisa ditangani sepenuhnya, bahkan kelompoknya masih tersebar. Namun, Meta tetap melakukan berbagai cara untuk melindungi pengguna di platformnya.

"As part of our efforts to address threats, we are working with law enforcement agencies around the world to share insights into how this criminal industry operates and help law enforcement protect the public from this fraud," said Meta.