Aug. 6 (UPI) -- WhatsApp has taken down 6.8 million accounts linked to scammers around the world, Meta said. WhatsApp rolled out a new anti-scam measure to alert users of scams. Many of the scams were tied to criminal organizations in South East Asia, according to Meta.

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,

In a significant move to combat the growing threat of online fraud, Meta has taken decisive action against scam activity on WhatsApp. As part of its broader effort to enhance platform safety, the tech company has removed millions of suspicious accounts and introduced new features designed to protect users from deception.