China’s most popular social media platform WeChat announced on Tuesday that it had banned more than 6,000 accounts and more than 2,000 chat groups. To justify the bans, WeChat said its users had offered proof that the individuals behind these accounts were scammers.
As an illustration, WeChat displayed partial ID information of 17 accounts to demonstrate the different types of scams that are being run on the platform. Often, scammers offer fake stock tips, micro-loans, or even part-time jobs, and demand exorbitant fees later on. Others impersonate family members or government agencies to extract payments from their victims, or try to lure women into pornography.
WeChat said its security team has strengthened its crackdown on fraud. The platform has warned its users to be cautious ahead of Chinese New Year, which starts on February 5th, as scammers tend to be more active than usual ahead of the holidays.
Editor: Brady Ng