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Sally Marchant thought she was speaking to a friend just days before Christmas, but it was anything but.
The message from her Facebook friend – who had been hacked by AI – was too good to refuse.
“They were really encouraging saying, ‘Yeah do it, do it’,” Marchant told 9News.
The 59-year-old was asked to send $10,000 for a prize in return for $200,000.
She sent the money but shortly realised it was too good to be true.
“I really believed I was talking to my friend, messaging him,” she said.
“So I phoned him and physically spoke to him and he just went, ‘No, no’, he knew nothing about it.”
The grandmother had taken the funds out of her mortgage, hoping to build a better future.
“You could have spent that on so many other wonderful things. So I was cross with myself, I was quite humiliated.”
Facebook scams are a growing concern, with those 65 and older the most likely to be fleeced on the platform.
Reports to Consumer Protection jumped 62 per cent last year, earning Meta the top spot in 2023.
“Any message that comes through to you that says you could win something,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake said.
“Just if it’s coming through from someone that says they know you, contact the person on the details that you would normally contact them on, not via the message that you’ve received.”
For scammers on Facebook, Consumer Protection says it can notify Meta to investigate, expecting the global giants with greater technology access to be vigorous in shutting down the hackers’ accounts.
With scammers still having access to Marchant’s Facebook account, she’s vowing to never return to the social media platform.
“It’s just too unsafe and they’re not helpful when something goes wrong.”
