Meta revealed on Wednesday its plans to enhance scam detection tools across Facebook, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The company aims to alert users of potential scams, emphasizing that scammers often evade immediate detection.
On Facebook, new alerts will notify users of suspicious friend requests. If a request displays unusual activity, like few mutual connections or a different country location, an alert will prompt users to review the request for possible blocking or acceptance.
For WhatsApp, Meta is introducing device linking warnings to prevent scams involving account linking. Scammers might impersonate a talent competition to trick users into providing their phone number and device linking code. WhatsApp will now alert users if a linking request appears suspicious based on behavioral indicators.
In Messenger, the advanced scam detection feature will expand to more countries this month to identify patterns linked to scams, such as job offers. Users will receive warnings and may be prompted to share recent chat messages for AI analysis. If identified as a scam, Meta will advise blocking or reporting the account and offer information on common scams.
Meta also shared that it removed over 159 million scam ads last year, 92% of which were detected before being reported, and eliminated 10.9 million accounts linked to scam activities on Facebook and Instagram.