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,

Meta removes 6.8M WhatsApp scam accounts in a global crackdown, urging users to stay alert, verify contacts, and report suspicious activity.

Many of the accounts were linked to criminal groups operating in South East Asia, the social media giant said.