The company is seeking $500,000 from the unnamed threat actors that ran phishing scam on its platforms
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has announced that it has taken legal action against hackers that used phishing attacks in an attempt to trick Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram users into sharing their login details.
The tech giant has filed a federal lawsuit in the state of California which aims to “seek records to uncover the identities” of the threat actors taking part in the phishing campaign, which involved the creation of more than 39,000 fake Meta-owned websites since 2019.
The fake websites prompted people to enter their usernames and passwords, allowing the hackers to access and take control of the accounts.
The hackers are also accused of using relay service Ngrok to redirect internet traffic from Meta’s infrastructure, as well as conceal their actions and identities.
In a statement, Meta’s director of Platform Enforcement and Litigation, Jessica Romero, announced that the lawsuit is “one more step” in the company’s “ongoing efforts to protect people’s safety and privacy, send a clear message to those trying to abuse our platform, and increase accountability of those who abuse technology”.