Facebook kills Delhi-based fake accounts targeting Saudi, UAE, US

NEW DELHI: Facebook has revealed that it removed a network of 37 Facebook accounts, 32 Pages, 11 Groups and 42 Instagram accounts that originated in India and used fake accounts masquerading as media outlets to target the Gulf region, the US, the UK and Canada.

Although the people behind this network attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, the Facebook investigation found links to aRep Global, a digital marketing firm in India.

“The individuals behind this activity used fake accounts — some of which had been previously detected and disabled by our automated systems — to manage Groups and Pages, and to drive people to off-platform websites masquerading as news outlets,” said the social networking giant in its “February 2020 Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior Report”.