Meta rolls out global anti-scam campaign for holidays

As the global holiday shopping season begins, Meta has launched a worldwide anti-scam awareness initiative aimed at helping people stay safe online and across its apps. In addition to its ongoing efforts in scam detection and enforcement, the company is collaborating with open-source researchers at Graphika to identify and disrupt scams that often proliferate during the holiday season.

One common type of scam that tends to surface is the “holiday coupon” scam. David Agranovich, Meta’s director of security policy, explained, “We disrupted scammers offering fake coupons and gift cards to people in the US, India, and the UK, attempting to trick them into revealing personal information.”

These scams frequently involved various platforms, including Telegram, Facebook, and Pinterest, where users were led to websites that mimicked legitimate social media pages. On these sites, individuals were asked to complete a survey with sensitive details such as their age, gender, income, employment status, and interest in cryptocurrencies—all under the guise of entering a prize draw.

To further protect users this holiday season, Meta is introducing several new safety features across its platforms. WhatsApp users will now receive a context card that provides additional information about a user or group to help assess whether the interaction may be suspicious. For Instagram users, the platform will issue reminders to be cautious if it detects potentially scam-related activity in follow requests.

Additionally, Meta is rolling out alerts on Marketplace to warn users if incoming messages follow common scam patterns, enabling users to identify and avoid fraudulent offers more easily.

This proactive effort by Meta underscores its commitment to enhancing user security and fostering a safer online experience, particularly during a time of year when scams are most prevalent. With these new measures, Meta aims to empower users to spot scams and safeguard their personal information during the busy holiday season.