Instagram removes 63,000 sextortion accounts in Nigeria

Instagram owner Meta says it has removed thousands of accounts in Nigeria that were trying to target people in sextortion schemes.

Such scammers typically pose as young women online to trick people into sending sexually explicit material before blackmailing them.

Victims of sextortion crimes have taken their own lives due to the stress, stigma and shame felt after being scammed.

Meta said in a blogpost on Wednesday it had removed about 63,000 accounts that tried to engage with the scams.

"Financial sextortion is a horrific crime that can have devastating consequences," it said.

The company said it also took down 5,700 Facebook groups in which scammers were offering tips on how to scam people.

Experts and authorities have previously warned social media users to remain aware and alert of the scam's dangers amid their apparent rise.

In May, 16-year-old Murray Dowey from Dunblane took his own life after being targeted by criminals.

And the BBC found sextortion guides being sold on social media platforms in May.

Perpetrators of sextortion scams present themselves to a user online as a potential romantic interest with the aim of getting them to send explicit or intimate images of themselves - often by sending a nude image first and asking for one in return.

Senders are then threatened with having their intimate images circulated publicly unless they send payment.

'Yahoo boys'

Meta said on Wednesday that the accounts it disrupted and removed for engaging in sextortion attempts had links to a wider, informal network of cybercriminals operating in Nigeria, known as "Yahoo Boys".

The fraudsters are included on the tech giant's list of dangerous organisations and individuals that are banned from using its platforms to carry out their activities.

The company says it uses a combination of different technologies to identify accounts that may be engaging in sextortion scams or attempts.

These include automatically blurring nude images sent to users in messages and presenting them with a message saying they do not have to respond and letting them instantly block the sender and report the chat.

As part of new tools it announced in April, Meta said will not display the “message” button on a teen’s profile to accounts it has believes could be engaging in sextortion attempts, even if the accounts have already connected with each other.