Facebook Marketplace has become a hub for cybercriminals: Report

Facebook Marketplace, Launched in 2016 to Convert Facebook According to a new report, the group has become a hotbed of scammers and fraudsters in the marketplace who regularly dupe users. The social media marketplace, which has grown to a user base of nearly 1 billion people, is unable to moderate harmful content and ban cybercriminals, as reported by ProPublica, a non-profit media organization. Which claims to do investigative journalism in public. Interest.

As the United States-based publication reports, the tech giant isn’t weeding out cybercriminals even when they spot rogue or suspicious accounts, and hackers and scammers leave people unpunished. The online marketplace employs a total of 400 employees in four countries – India, the US, Singapore and Ireland. These 400 employees hired by Accenture are responsible for handling 600 complaints a day. This gives a worker less than a minute to address an incident. Investigations show that even when workers are aware of scams, they rarely stop them. Workers, who work mostly on contract basis, get involved only after such an offense is committed.

According to a former contractor, who spoke to ProPublica during the investigation, his work is mostly reactive, not proactive. “I don’t think I’ve ever stopped someone from robbing me,” he said. publica.

The Marketplace largely relies on Facebook’s automated algorithms to scan listings for suspicious signs. Workers claimed that the automated system rarely even bans obvious scams. In addition, algorithms misidentify and block real users. While legitimate users lose their money, hackers steal personal information and flourish.

There are even murder cases in which the killer posed as a seller and killed a buyer when the buyer went to buy a listed item. In one such case, 26-year-old Joshua Gorgon confessed that he stabbed 54-year-old Dennis Williams to buy a used fridge in his home for $160 (about Rs 11,900) that he had listed. . Facebook Marketplace.

According to Facebook, they are always working to fix these issues and the suggestion that they are not trying to prevent scams and protect people is false and the company has taken a “holistic approach to security”. misunderstood, the company told ProPublica.

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