Meta has announced what it claims is a ‘first-of-its-kind’ information sharing partnership with UK banks to help combat the rising tide of fraud across its social media platforms.

The agreement, already trialled by NatWest and Metro Bank over the past six months, has so far led to action against thousands of accounts run by scammers, with approximately 20,000 accounts removed based on data shared, the company said.

The initiative, named the Fraud Intelligence Reciprocal Exchange (FIRE), is a threat intelligence sharing tool for financial institutions, allowing banks to share data with Meta directly, enabling the social media giant to take more targeted action against scammers.

More UK banks will be onboarded to the initiative in coming months, with Meta saying it will work alongside financial institutions to strengthen its fraud detection capabilities, creating a safer digital environment for its users in the UK.

Praise for the FIRE programme has come from many directions, including high-street banks, the National Economic Crime Centre, the City of London Police, and anti-fraud charities.  

David Lindberg, CEO of retail banking at NatWest, said: “Spotting and stopping fraudsters before they are able to target customers is the best way to address this growing problem. 

“Partnering with Meta is an important step in tackling the epidemic of fraud. We welcome the opportunity to deepen our collaboration and ensure a cross-industry approach to fraud prevention and enforcement.”

Meta’s move to clamp down on fraud across its platforms follows a study from TSB earlier this year, which found that over a third of adverts tested on Facebook Marketplace could be scam posts.

Members of TSB’s fraud team sampled 100 Facebook Marketplace posts in January – for cars, watches, games consoles, air fryers and handbags, among other items – and concluded that 34% of the listings were fraudulent, with sellers using tactics known to be commonly used by fraudsters.

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Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, along with several other major platforms including Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X, signed up to the UK Government’s voluntary Online Fraud Charter in 2023, agreeing to quickly develop measures to detect and block fraudulent material, as well as to work with initiatives to quickly share information about frauds.

The FIRE programme is the latest tool rolled out by Meta since, joining new features designed to protect users from sextortion scams and intimate image abuse, and an active Anti-Scam Hub.