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Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced on Wednesday a collaboration with two major U.K. banks in an effort to safeguard consumers from fraud through an information-sharing arrangement.
The company stated that it is extending its Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIPE) to facilitate direct information sharing between U.K. banks and Meta. This initiative aims to help the social media giant identify and remove fraudulent accounts and coordinated scam schemes.
According to Meta, the technology has already been tested with several lenders in the U.K. In one instance, data provided by British banks NatWest and Metro Bank enabled Meta to dismantle 20,000 scam accounts involved in a concert ticket fraud network affecting users in both the U.K. and the U.S.
Currently, NatWest and Metro Bank are the only U.K. banks participating in the fraud information-sharing agreement. However, Meta indicated that additional banks are expected to join in the future.
“This initiative has already resulted in the action against thousands of scammers’ accounts, underscoring the importance of collaboration between banks and platforms to address this societal issue,” stated Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s global head of counter-fraud. “We can only overcome these criminals by working together and sharing relevant scam-related information. Financial institutions possess unique data that can help us train our systems to act against more scams on a global scale,” Gleicher added.
For a long time, Meta has faced pressure from U.K. banks to ramp up efforts in curbing scam activities on its platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
In 2022, U.K. digital bank Starling, backed by Goldman Sachs, took a stand by boycotting Meta and removing its advertisements from the company’s platforms, expressing concerns over Meta’s inadequate response to fraudulent financial advertising.
Meta’s platforms have frequently been exploited by scammers aiming to deceive users through various fraudulent schemes. Authorized push payment fraud is one of the most prevalent scams, where criminals impersonate individuals or businesses to convince users to send money under false pretenses.
Meta already enforces policies prohibiting the promotion of financial fraud, including loan scams and schemes promising high returns. The company also bans advertisements that guarantee unrealistic financial results.
