Meta executives are reportedly acknowledging a serious new problem with scams affecting its social media platforms.

A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of social media behemoths Instagram and Facebook, tells the Wall Street Journal that the corporate giant is dealing with “an epidemic of scams” that has been growing exponentially in recent years, both in scale and sophistication.

“As this scam activity has become more persistent and sophisticated, so have our efforts.” 

The spokesperson reveals that Meta is experimenting with facial-recognition technology while also forming partnerships with banks and tech firms since the scams are affecting so many industries and “different parts of society.”

Citing people familiar with the matter, WSJ also reports that JPMorgan Chase has raised concerns with Meta about its policing – or lack thereof – of scams.

Meta accounted for nearly half of all reported scams on Zelle for JPMorgan Chase customers between the summers of 2023 and 2024, according to a WSJ source. JPMorgan also recently began blocking certain Zelle payments and warning users about transactions originating from social media platforms like Meta.

The person said that the number of scams linked to Meta has shown improvement in recent months.

However, documents seen by WSJ reportedly show that Meta has recently deprioritized enforcing scams, avoiding takedowns of erroneous advertisements because of supposed safety concerns, while also cutting costs and moving resources to other departments.

WSJ interviewed Edgar Guzman, the owner of a home improvement supplies and garden equipment company in Atlanta, who said scams are relentlessly targeting his customers, prompting them to make payments for products that never arrive.

Says Guzman,

“What sucks is we have to break it to people that they’ve been scammed – we don’t even do online sales… We keep reporting pages to Meta, but nothing ever happens.”

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Generated Image: Midjourney

Cutting corners: A sophisticated spam campaign leveraging GenAI’s large language models has targeted tens of thousands of websites, revealing the darker side of LLMs. According to a detailed report by SentinelLabs, the framework behind this operation, dubbed AkiraBot, has successfully bypassed spam detection filters, delivering AI-generated messages to over 80,000 websites in just four months.

AkiraBot is a Python-based framework that exploits website contact forms and live chat widgets, primarily targeting small and medium-sized businesses. Its goal is to promote questionable search engine optimization services under the brands “Akira” and “ServiceWrap.”

Unlike traditional spam tools that rely on repetitive templates, AkiraBot uses OpenAI’s chat API to generate unique messages tailored to each targeted website. It crafts personalized content using site-specific details scraped with BeautifulSoup, making the messages more difficult for spam filters to detect.

The framework’s modular design includes advanced CAPTCHA bypass mechanisms and network evasion techniques. It uses Selenium WebDriver to simulate legitimate browsing behavior, along with scripts like inject.js to manipulate browser attributes such as graphics rendering, installed fonts, and system memory profiles.

Annoying CAPTCHAs… because selecting blurry traffic lights, deciphering distorted text, and proving you’re not a robot is apparently the ultimate test of humanity.

These modifications allow AkiraBot to mimic real user behavior, defeating CAPTCHA systems like hCAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA. Additionally, it relies on proxy services like SmartProxy to diversify traffic sources and evade IP-based restrictions.

SentinelLabs uncovered archives dating back to September 2024 that document AkiraBot’s evolution. Initially referred to as “Shopbot,” the framework expanded its targeting from Shopify-based websites to platforms like GoDaddy, Wix, Squarespace, and others commonly used by small businesses.

The bot’s graphical user interface allows operators to monitor success metrics and adjust settings for concurrently targeting multiple websites. Logs obtained by researchers reveal that AkiraBot successfully spammed over 80,000 domains while failing on approximately 11,000 attempts. In total, more than 420,000 unique domains were targeted.

User review/report for spam domain useakira[.]com

The use of AI-generated content in spam campaigns marks a significant shift in tactics. It highlights the dual-use nature of large language models: while they power innovations in automation and communication, they also provide tools for malicious activity.

OpenAI responded promptly after being alerted by SentinelLabs, disabling the API key associated with AkiraBot and reaffirming its commitment to preventing misuse. “Distributing output from our services for spam is against our policies,” OpenAI stated. “We take misuse seriously and are continually improving our systems to detect abuse.”

Despite this, SentinelLabs warns that AkiraBot’s operators are likely to continue refining their techniques as website hosting providers strengthen defenses. It noted that the campaign’s reliance on CAPTCHA bypassing technologies and proxy rotation demonstrates a high level of sophistication and determination.