'Scams se bacho': Meta launches global anti-scam awareness drive ahead of holiday season

As the holiday shopping season kicks off worldwide, Meta has announced a global anti-scam awareness campaign to help users stay vigilant online. With scams becoming increasingly sophisticated, the initiative combines safety tips, new security tools, and partnerships with public figures, NGOs, and creators to educate users about online threats.

Meta’s efforts come in response to a rise in scams during the holiday season. The company, working with open-source researchers at Graphika, disrupted several scams targeting users in India, the US, and the UK. These included fake holiday coupons, fraudulent gift promises, and too-good-to-be-true discounts on holiday decorations.

For example, scammers offered fake coupons to lure users into sharing personal details under the guise of a prize draw. Similarly, posts promising Christmas gift boxes tricked users into providing sensitive information like income levels and debts. Meta also took action against scammers selling holiday decorations at extremely low prices through AI-generated videos and fake websites.

To protect users, Meta has rolled out a range of security updates across its platforms:

    •    WhatsApp: A new context card feature offers more information about unknown users or groups when they send messages or add users to groups.

    •    Instagram: Alerts warn users about potentially suspicious follow requests from accounts flagged for scam-like activities.

    •    Facebook Marketplace: Notifications are sent to users when detected messages mimic known scam patterns.

In 2024, Meta has already taken down over two million accounts tied to scam networks across regions like Cambodia, Myanmar, and the UAE.

Meta’s anti-scam initiative in India includes the “Scams se Bacho” campaign featuring Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to educate users about online scams through relatable storytelling and music, including a remake of the iconic track “Oye Lucky Lucky Oye” featuring Abhay Deol.

The company has also partnered with regional creators like Akshath Acharya and Callmeshazzam to produce scam-awareness content in nine Indian languages, making the message accessible to a wider audience.

This campaign is part of Meta’s collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), reinforcing efforts to combat cyber fraud nationwide.