Meta has reportedly fired several employees for fraudulent practices.
CNBC reports that Meta has let off over two dozen employees and contractors in the past year for inappropriately gaining control of accounts and taking bribes.
Insiders told The Wall Street Journal that several of those sacked were contractors serving as security guards at Meta locations. Ironically, the employees were provided access to an internal system called ‘Oops’.
Oops
Online Operations, or Oops, was created as a mechanism for Meta staff members to draw attention to unusual situations, such as family, friends, co-workers or public personalities who had lost access to their accounts or had their accounts put on hold.
Employees or contractors enter an email address they wish to link to the Instagram or Facebook account before being required to respond to a series of questions on their request. Meta said that in some cases workers accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from hackers requesting to access user accounts.
The community team at Meta receives all entries into Oops and prioritizes them for processing. Facebook and Meta are notorious for their arbitrary and frequently automatic bans, blocks and suspensions. Individual scammers continuously adapt their tactics in response to the detection methods commonly used across the industry.
“Individuals selling fraudulent services are always targeting online platforms”, a Meta representative told the Wall Street Journal. “Meta will keep taking appropriate action against those involved in these kinds of schemes.”
Meta shifts blame
Meta placed the responsibility for the fraudulent cases on the contractors and employees using the system. The organization didn’t address the fact that the system may have flaws that motivate employees to accept bribes for account restoration.
The Wall Street Journal suggests that the best solution would be to improve customer service and provide users with a legal means of contesting limitations and bans.