WhatsApp says it has taken down 6.8 million accounts linked to scammers targeting people around the world in the first half of this year. Many were tied to scam centres run by organised criminals in South East Asia, who often used forced labour in their operations, the Meta-owned messaging platform says.

The company announced that it took down over 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts linked to criminal scam centers targeting people around the world.

WhatsApp, a popular messaging app, said it has added new tools and taken action to combat messaging scams. The company announced Tuesday it has added a new tool that will show users when someone who is not in their contact list adds them to a news group chat that they may not recognize.