WhatsApp has taken down 6.8 million accounts that were “linked to criminal scam centers” targeting people online around that world, its parent company Meta said this week. The account deletions, which Meta said took place over the first six months of the year,

Meta took down 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts tied to scam operations on Tuesday after victims reported financial fraud schemes. The company said many of the scam sources were based in Southeast Asia at criminal scam centers.

Many of the accounts were linked to criminal groups operating in South East Asia, the social media giant said.