Instagram reveals why it has closed over 50,000 accounts

Meta has shut down 63,000 Instagram accounts for using the social media platform to sexually blackmail people.

About 63,000 accounts have been shut down in the African country of Nigeria, Metta said.  Most of them involved in the financial sexual exploitation of adult men in the United States by editing photos uploaded to various Instagram accounts.

Known as ‘Yahoo Boys’, these online fraudsters from Nigeria target people by pretending to make money.

These fraudsters also lure people into their trap by telling them that a Nigerian prince has offered them a fantastic return on investment.

Meta said in a statement that there were 63,000 such accounts on Instagram, while 7,200 Facebook accounts, pages and groups involved in the fraud have also been removed.

The social media giant also dismantled a small integrated network of about 2,500 accounts that were run by groups of about 20 people.

In this sexual extortion, or ‘sex solicitation’, people are threatened that their sexual images, real or fake, will be released on social media, if they did not pay money.

A Meta representative said this is not the first time they have taken down such networks, but is disclosing the current operation to “raise awareness” among users.