WhatsApp has taken down 6.8 million accounts that were “linked to criminal scam centers” targeting people online around that world, its parent company Meta said this week. The account deletions, which Meta said took place over the first six months of the year,

Many of the accounts were linked to criminal groups operating in South East Asia, the social media giant said.

Meta says it has shut down nearly 7 million WhatsApp accounts linked to scammers just in the first half of 2025. To keep users safe, WhatsApp has now launched new AI-powered safety features to combat scams,