Pilot project: With this strategy, Meta bans fake accounts

Deepfake scams are widespread on the Facebook platform. The number of fake accounts has increased dramatically in recent years. If criminals deprive innocent consumers of their money, banks also have to contend with the consequences – and they are not at all happy about it.

That’s why Facebook parent company Meta has launched a new program that allows banks to exchange data directly with the group in order to combat cyber crime more efficiently. Meta presented the new system, called “Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange” – Fire for short – on Wednesday.

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National Westminster Bank (Natwest) and Metro Bank are the first two banks to take part in the current UK pilot. Meta said in a statement that it had already removed 20,000 accounts suspected of fraud based on data shared by the two banks.

Meta also presented the program in Australia. According to The Guardian, it has been working with several banks there since January. As Meta explained to the newspaper, the program blocked 8,000 different sites in the first six months. It also blocked another 9,000 accounts that claimed to be celebrities on social media.

According to the meta release, Fire has already helped dismantle a “significant concert ticket fraud network” in the UK. Meta level to expand the system to other banks.

Fraudsters particularly target Facebook users

The statement also quoted David Lindberg, CEO of retail banking at Natwest. He believes the best way to stop scams is to identify them before they can target victims.

“Partnering with Meta is an important step in the fight against the fraud epidemic,” he said. “We welcome the opportunity to deepen our collaboration and ensure a cross-industry approach to fraud prevention and through.”

Fraud operations on Facebook have become a serious problem in recent years. Facebook users encounter scams more than any other social media platform, according to data from cybersecurity firm F-Secure.

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Australian gangsters pocketed millions in 2023

In March, Australian authorities warned of a rise in criminals using fake news articles and deepfake videos. They use these to deceive victims and make them believe that celebrities are asking them for large sums of money or are trying to get them to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest filed a federal lawsuit against Meta earlier this year. He claimed the company was profiting from thousands of advertisements that used deepfake photos of him to play their fake game on Facebook.

Last year, Australians lost up to eight million dollars (around 5 million euros) to online gangsters who made profits using fake investment platforms. This is according to figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Meta did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

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