WhatsApp takes down 6.8 million accounts linked to criminal scam centers, Meta says

NEW YORK (AP) — 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, arrive as part of wider company efforts to crack down on scams. In a Tuesday announcement, Meta said it was also rolling new tools on WhatsApp to help people spot scams — including a new safety overview that the platform will show when someone who is not in a user’s contacts adds them to a group, as well as ongoing test alerts to pause before responding.