Meta has removed more than 1.4 million fraudulent accounts, pages and groups from Facebook and Instagram as part of a coordinated international operation targeting scam networks in Southeast Asia. The action came during a week-long collaboration in Washington, DC that brought together tech companies, US law enforcement, and international partners to share intelligence and coordinate responses.
The operation marks a significant escalation in efforts to combat online fraud, particularly romance scams, “pig butchering” investment schemes, and law enforcement impersonation that have cost Americans billions of dollars. These criminal networks also exploit Southeast Asian workers by luring them with fake job offers, then forcing them to work in scam compounds.
During the collaboration week starting May 18, Meta worked alongside Microsoft, Coinbase, SpaceX’s Starlink, the Department of Justice, the Royal Thai Police, and law enforcement agencies from the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The companies announced this was the first operation of its kind to include such broad industry cooperation, allowing them to “connect the dots between disparate pieces of information across platforms.”
The results were substantial across all participating companies:
- Meta disabled 1.4 million accounts, pages and groups
- Microsoft suspended 20,000 scammer accounts
- Coinbase froze over $3 million in cryptocurrency tied to criminal networks
- Starlink disconnected thousands of internet kits being used by scammers
- Law enforcement arrested 63 suspects and identified additional scam center locations
This collaborative approach addresses a growing problem that has plagued social media platforms for years. Meta has faced intense criticism for allowing scammers to operate freely on its platforms while allegedly profiting from fraudulent advertising. The company’s previous efforts, while extensive, have often seemed inadequate given the scale of the problem.
The Southeast Asian focus is particularly important because these regions have become major hubs for international fraud operations. Criminal syndicates have industrialized scamming, creating sophisticated operations that target victims worldwide while exploiting local workers through human trafficking.
Meta has been fighting this battle for years, previously taking down more than 2 million accounts linked to pig butchering schemes, where criminals build fake relationships with victims before convincing them to make fraudulent cryptocurrency investments. In 2025 alone, the company removed 159 million scam ads and 10.9 million Facebook and Instagram accounts tied to criminal scam centers.
The company has also taken legal action, suing advertisers in Brazil and China over fraudulent ads that used deepfake images of celebrities to direct users to scam websites. This March, Meta rolled out AI tools designed to identify brand and celebrity impersonators and alert users when they might be communicating with fraudulent accounts.
While the participating companies haven’t revealed specific next steps, Meta confirmed that all partners “remain committed to continuing this important collaboration to protect people online.” The success of this operation suggests that coordinated industry-wide action may be more effective than individual company efforts in combating increasingly sophisticated international fraud networks.
The operation’s success comes at a critical time as online fraud continues to evolve and expand. By sharing intelligence across platforms and with law enforcement, tech companies can better track criminal networks that often operate across multiple services simultaneously.