Meta and global police dismantle Southeast Asia scam networks

• Meta says it took down accounts directly involved in scams as well as profiles supporting the infrastructure behind them.
• Authorities said the targeted networks were linked to scam centres across parts of Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, operating like industrial businesses and coordinating romance scams, cryptocurrency investment fraud, and impersonation schemes to extract money from victims.

Meta, working with international law enforcement, has dismantled large criminal networks in Southeast Asia that used social media to run industrial‑scale scams, removing more than 150,000 fraudulent Facebook accounts and prompting 21 arrests tied to organised fraud groups targeting victims worldwide.

The action was part of “Joint Disruption Week,” led by Thailand’s Royal Thai Police Anti‑Cyber Scam Center with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force. Investigators from the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Indonesia also participated.

Combating scams

Meta said it took down accounts directly involved in scams as well as profiles supporting the infrastructure behind them. “These operations cause real harm—they upend lives, destroy trust,” the company said, adding that combating scams “requires ongoing collaboration with partners across the tech industry and law enforcement.”

Authorities said the targeted networks were linked to scam centres across parts of Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, operating like industrial businesses and coordinating romance scams, cryptocurrency investment fraud, and impersonation schemes to extract money from victims.

The push builds on a December campaign that removed about 59,000 accounts, pages, and groups tied to similar networks. “Our work to combat scams is never done,” said Chris Sonderby, Meta’s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel.

Meta added that in 2025 it removed 10.9 million accounts tied to criminal scam centres and blocked more than 159 million scam ads globally. The company also announced new user protections, including warnings for suspicious friend requests and advanced scam detection in Messenger.