Fake AI Facebook Job Scam Costs Bay Area Woman Life Savings: Report

BAY AREA, CA — A Bay Area woman says she lost her entire life savings after accepting what she believed was a remote job with Facebook, only to discover weeks later that the opportunity was an elaborate scam powered by increasingly sophisticated tactics — including artificial intelligence.

Furseth recounted the aftermath, telling ABC7 News, “I lost everything I worked for — in a month and a half. It just infuriated me.”

Furseth told ABC7 News that she was recruited last fall by a woman who identified herself as “Lily,” claiming to represent Facebook’s ad management center. The job, Furseth was told, involved placing ads while Meta tested new AI tools, according to ABC7 News.

“All the software buzzwords were there,” said Furseth, a longtime tech worker. Given her experience, she told ABC7 News, the job sounded legitimate.

She was assigned a “training mentor” who guided her through onboarding, communicating almost exclusively via WhatsApp, according to ABC7 News. Aside from one phone call, Furseth said their interactions were entirely online.

At the time, the 60-year-old Brentwood resident had just finished a contract with a Bay Area software company and was seeking new work, according to ABC7 News. Soon after, Furseth said she was instructed to wire money from her bank to a cryptocurrency platform, then transfer it to what appeared to be a Facebook app. There, the funds were held in a digital wallet used to place ads.

Reflecting on those early days, Furseth told ABC7News, “That should have been a red flag. But when I logged in, I saw my real Facebook messages.”

She reiterated to ABC7 News that, at that point, everything looked real. She even checked the URL and logged in with her normal credentials.

Although it’s unclear how the fake app accessed her messages, a convincing display led Furseth to believe the job was legitimate. Over the next several weeks, she placed ads and watched her account show soaring profits, ABC7 News reported. After six weeks, as she prepared to cash out, the scam unraveled.

Furseth told ABC7 News that scammers posing as Facebook customer service then threatened to freeze her funds unless she paid a 20 percent penalty. By that point, she says, there was nothing left.
By the end, “I didn’t have anything,” she told ABC7 News.

The final warning sign came when her mentor’s tone shifted.

“He started getting really personal,” Furseth told ABC7 News.

In total, Furseth lost $176,000—her life savings. Afterward, the scammer urged her to sell her car and pawn her belongings to recover the funds, ABC7 News said.

In response to their inquiry, ABC7 News said Meta reviewed documentation and removed the fraudulent WhatsApp accounts linked to Furseth’s case. In a statement, WhatsApp said it works to reduce spam and scam activity but noted that users can still be contacted by others who have their phone number, according to ABC7 News.

Meta told ABC7 News that scammers often move victims across multiple platforms, making detection more difficult. The company has reported that more than 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts tied to criminal scam centers have been suspended worldwide and says it is rolling out new tools to help users identify fraud faster — including added context when messaging unknown contacts and safety tips when added to unfamiliar groups, according to ABC7 News.

“It’s terrifying,” Furseth told ABC7 News. “I had a good job most of my career. One stupid mistake — and it’s gone."

Consumer advocates warn that Furseth’s case highlights a growing trend: scammers are using AI, familiar software language, and real-looking platforms to lure victims with promises of easy remote income.

Furseth now shares her story to protect others.

“These scams are getting so sophisticated so quickly,” Furseth told ABC7 News.