California

More than two dozen employees and contractors of Meta platforms were sacked over the last year for allegedly taking control of user accounts in lieu of cash, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported citing relevant documents and people familiar with the matter.

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Some of those sacked contractors worked as security guards at Meta facilities and were given access to the platform’s internal redressal mechanism used by employees to help users having trouble with their accounts.

The said mechanism being referred to here is called “Oops”, an acronym for Online Operations, which has been in existence since Facebook’s formative years.

This platform is used by employees to help users they know who have forgotten their passwords or emails, or had their accounts taken over by hackers.

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It was reported that these axed workers used to take thousands of dollars in bribes from hackers to access user accounts.

These terminations took place as part of a lengthy internal probe led by Meta executives, according to the report.

“Individuals selling fraudulent services are always targeting online platforms, including ours, and adapting their tactics in response to the detection methods that are commonly used across the industry,” Meta spokesman Andy Stone was quoted as saying.

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He said that the company “will keep taking appropriate action against those involved in these kinds of schemes.”

Oops is used in special cases like friends, family, business partners and public figures, but its usage has soared with increasing employee headcount.

In 2020, the channel serviced about 50,270 tasks, up from 22,000 three years earlier, according to an internal document reviewed by the WSJ newspaper.

(With inputs from agencies)

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