Meta acts against scammers' accounts with Singapore police help

thestar.com.my Sep 23, 2026

Meta acts against scammers’ accounts with Singapore police help

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Sep 23, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Meta announced that, with data supplied by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), it has taken down more than 3.7 million scam‑linked accounts, pages and other content on Facebook and Instagram in 2024. The partnership, now in its second year, enables Meta investigators to pinpoint and dismantle entire scam ecosystems that would otherwise remain hidden across platforms and borders. Between January and June, the company removed over 113 000 fraudulent entities, including 33 600 targeted at holiday‑season travelers in June. In July, the bulk of the takedowns were “shell pages”—inactive profiles that scammers could repurpose. Meta officials said the collaboration with SPF is a model for regional expansion, while highlighting the growing use of AI by scammers to mass‑produce fake profiles and malicious code.

💡 Why It Matters

· By linking police intelligence with platform‑wide enforcement, Meta can strike at scam networks before they scale, curbing a rapidly evolving, AI‑driven fraud threat that traditional, siloed approaches miss.

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Security Bite: The last 24 hours at Meta were “not-a-musing”

Meta has spent the past two weeks promoting the security of its new Muse personal AI agent, highlighting a dedicated Secure VM, a Sentinel monitoring system and bug‑bounty rewards of up to $300,000. CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly claimed the agent was “built from the ground up for privacy and security.” However, macOS security researcher Patrick Wardle, a contributor to Security Bite, discovered a zero‑day vulnerability in the Muse macOS app within the last 24 hours. Wardle’s finding, which he dubbed “not‑a‑musing,” demonstrates that the agent’s purported protections can be bypassed on Apple devices. The flaw was reported to Meta, prompting an immediate investigation and a patch rollout to address the exploit.

💡 The breach proves that even heavily marketed security claims can be flawed, forcing Meta to reassess its AI safety assurances and restore user trust.

techcrunch.com · Sep 22

Meta deal will help plastics recycling startup MacroCycle build its first factory

Plastics‑recycling startup MacroCycle announced a partnership with Meta that will fund the construction of its first commercial plant in the United States. The Cambridge‑based company uses a solvent‑based process to dissolve and purify PET from mixed waste streams, including low‑recycling textiles, producing a material indistinguishable from virgin plastic while emitting 80 % fewer carbon emissions. Under the deal, Meta purchases environmental attribute credits for the avoided emissions, allowing the tech giant to count the reductions toward its AI‑driven carbon‑footprint goals. The agreement provides MacroCycle with a revenue stream to support a demonstration facility capable of outputting 5,000 metric tons of recycled plastic annually, with plans for larger plants later. The deal marks Meta’s first such credit purchase.

💡 By monetizing emissions reductions, Meta creates a market incentive that could accelerate the rollout of low‑carbon recycled plastics across its supply chain and beyond.

techcrunch.com · Sep 22

Meta’s Muse is outpacing ChatGPT’s early mobile launch

Meta’s new AI app Muse surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. and Canada mobile downloads, with 1.8 million installs versus ChatGPT’s 1.3 million in the first 12 days. Muse also achieved higher daily active users—642,000 overall and 359,000 on iOS—compared to ChatGPT’s 231,000. The app climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. App Store, overtaking ChatGPT, and has 2.8 million global installs. Meta’s cross‑promotion via Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp likely fuels Muse’s rapid uptake.

💡 Muse’s swift lead in downloads and active users signals Meta’s potential to dominate the AI app market, challenging OpenAI’s foothold and reshaping how users engage with AI across its ecosystem.

moneycontrol.com · Sep 21

Facebook, Instagram outage: Thousands of Meta users report disruptions in US; are…

Meta’s Facebook and Instagram experienced a widespread outage in the United States on Sunday evening, with Downdetector reporting over 17,000 Facebook and 5,000 Instagram problem reports around 9:11 p.m. ET. Messenger also saw a spike in outages, while WhatsApp’s impact was smaller. By 9:25 a.m. IST the India status pages indicated no major nationwide issues, though isolated user complaints persisted. The disruption also affected users in Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, the US, and Mexico. Meta has yet to release an official explanation or identify the root cause.

💡 The incident underscores the fragility of global social‑media infrastructure and its ripple effects on communication, commerce, and real‑time information flow.

247wallst.com · Sep 21

The AI Agent Wars Just Got Personal: Google’s CC vs. Meta’s Muse

Alphabet and Meta have launched competing consumer AI agents—Google’s family‑oriented CC and Meta’s single‑user Muse—that can act on users’ behalf rather than merely answer questions. CC supports up to six family members and is tightly integrated with Google’s ecosystem, while Muse offers broader autonomy across a user’s digital life, including commerce. Both companies are investing billions in AI infrastructure, but Google maintains a lower valuation (P/E 14 vs. 24) and stronger margin profile, whereas Meta’s recent earnings miss and margin compression raise concerns. The launch marks a pivotal moment in the AI agent race, with each firm targeting distinct user models and use cases.

💡 The agents’ ability to perform real actions could redefine digital productivity and commerce, positioning the leading firm as the default platform for everyday automation.

wired.com · Sep 20

Meta’s Muse Is Better at Surveilling Than Helping Me

Meta launched Muse, an AI personal assistant app promoted on Instagram and integrated with WhatsApp, promising to handle tasks such as deal hunting, reservations, and inbox management. Within its first week, the app was downloaded over 900,000 times, according to Sensor Tower. Muse connects to users’ email and bank accounts and employs a virtual machine to browse the web, completing actions like ordering food by navigating merchant sites and filling out payment forms. Reviewers note its smooth web‑surfing ability surpasses earlier agents such as the defunct ChatGPT Agent, though its focus on data collection raises privacy concerns. The default avatar—a beige creature resembling an Ewok—underscores its consumer‑friendly branding, while Meta emphasizes built‑in protections and user controls.

💡 Muse demonstrates how major platforms can rapidly scale AI assistants by leveraging existing user bases, turning everyday convenience into a data‑harvesting engine.