Meta Goes After Phishers Spoofing Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram with Federal Lawsuit

After dealing a blow to cyber-mercenaries last week, Meta is now suing an alleged ring of phishersspoofing the login pages of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

On Monday , Meta filed a federal lawsuit in the state of California “to disrupt phishing attacks designed to deceive people into sharing their login credentials on fake login pages for Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp,” according to the announcement.

Meta acknowledges phishing as a major global threat, and says attacks are on the rise.

The cybercrime ring targeted by the lawsuit allegedly maintained more than 39,000 websites designed to mimic the login pages of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp with the sole purpose to persuade a victim to enter sensitive information, like a password or email address.

“On these websites, people were prompted to enter their usernames and passwords, which Defendants collected,” Meta says.

The attackers allegedly used a relay service to conceal the true location of the websites, and the identities of their hosting providers and the defendants.

Meta seeks to ban the still-anonymous defendants from accessing its services and it demands monetary compensation. If caught and convicted, the accused may well be looking at time behind bars.