{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-02T07:18:54.317Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"scam-support-number","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2024","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2024-winnipeg-man-says-meta-ai-told-him-fake-facebook-support-number-was-legitimate-then-scammers-took-over-accounts","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'did a search in Facebook Messenger to find out whether it was legitimate.'; 'was \"indeed a legitimate Facebook support number.\"'; 'took this screen capture of his message from Meta AI, after he did a search to confirm the supposed tech support number.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The man says he asked the Meta AI search tool in Facebook Messenger whether a number his wife had found online was Facebook's support line, and Meta AI answered that it was a legitimate Facebook support number.","causal_attribution":"The man's account, supported by the screenshot he gave CBC; Meta did not dispute that he received the answer but said its own searches gave different results."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'She then opened his Facebook account.'; 'he had to give her access to his phone through an app she had him download'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"When he called, the person on the line obtained his account details, opened his Facebook account and had him install an app giving access to his phone.","causal_attribution":"The man's account to CBC."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'someone also accessed his PayPal account and used it to buy a $500 Apple gift card'; 'The person on the call also tried to buy bitcoin'; 'but thankfully his bank refused that attempted purchase.'; 'He was pleased when PayPal agreed to reverse the $500 charge against his account.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"During the call someone used his PayPal account to buy a $500 Apple gift card and tried to buy bitcoin, which his bank refused; PayPal later reversed the $500 charge.","causal_attribution":"The man's account; the connection to the call is his."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'cancelled credit cards and locked his bank accounts. He filed fraud complaints with PayPal and Visa, a police report, and alerts with the credit bureaus Equifax and TransUnion.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He cancelled credit cards, locked bank accounts and filed fraud complaints with PayPal, Visa, the police, the credit bureaus and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.","causal_attribution":"The man's account to CBC."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'\"Meta AI can sometimes produce inaccurate information, and we are continually working to make it better.\"'; 'the results were different, according to Meta's spokesperson.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Meta told CBC that Meta AI can sometimes produce inaccurate information and that its own searches with Meta AI gave different results from his.","causal_attribution":"Meta's emailed statement as reported by CBC."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson told CBC they have an active investigation open, and the case has been forwarded to the financial crimes unit.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Winnipeg police told CBC they had an active investigation and had forwarded the case to the financial crimes unit.","causal_attribution":"The police spokesperson's statement as reported by CBC."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'What he didn't know at the time is there is no phone number for Facebook customer support.'; '\"Yeah, this is Facebook customer service.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Facebook has no customer support phone number, and when CBC called the number the man had used, a person claimed to be Facebook customer service.","causal_attribution":"CBC's own reporting and test call."}],"effects":[{"label":"called a scam number Meta AI had called legitimate; Facebook account taken over and PayPal charged","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/facebook-customer-support-scam-1.7219581","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-02 (HTTP 200, full article); no translation and no human reviewer. CBC interviewed the man, published his screenshot of the Meta AI answer, called the number itself and obtained statements from Meta and Winnipeg police.","independence_group":"cbc-manitoba-may-2024"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["finance","privacy","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The exact date of the Meta AI exchange and the call; CBC says the problem began after he got a new phone in April 2024.","Whether any money remained lost after PayPal reversed the $500 charge.","The outcome of the Winnipeg police investigation and whether Meta answered his complaint."],"geography":{"basis":"CBC Manitoba reports a Winnipeg man who made the call and the Winnipeg Police Service investigation; no court was involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CA"],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a concrete adverse experience after a generative assistant's answer: the man's account, with a screenshot published by CBC, that Meta AI confirmed a scam support number as legitimate, followed by an account takeover and a fraudulent PayPal charge; Meta's and the police's statements are recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-11-02"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The man says he asked Meta AI in Facebook Messenger whether the number was legitimate and that it answered the number was \"indeed a legitimate Facebook support number\"; CBC published his screenshot of that answer. He says he called the number because of that answer, and the caller then took over his Facebook account and his PayPal account was used. Meta said Meta AI can produce inaccurate information and that its own later searches gave different results; no one independently reproduced his exchange.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Winnipeg man says Meta AI told him a fake Facebook support number was legitimate, and scammers he then called took over his accounts","summary":"A Winnipeg man told CBC that in spring 2024, after a problem moving his Facebook account to a new phone, his wife found what looked like a Facebook customer support number online, and before calling it he asked the Meta AI search tool in Facebook Messenger whether it was legitimate. According to his account and a screenshot he gave CBC, Meta AI answered that the number was \"indeed a legitimate Facebook support number\". Facebook has no phone support line. When he called, the person on the line obtained his account details, opened his Facebook account and had him install an app giving access to his phone; during the call someone used his PayPal account to buy a $500 Apple gift card and tried to buy bitcoin, which his bank refused. He cancelled cards, locked bank accounts, filed fraud and police reports, and PayPal reversed the $500 charge. Meta told CBC that Meta AI can sometimes produce inaccurate information and that its own searches gave different results. Winnipeg police said they had an active investigation.","incidentDate":"2024-04-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2024-05-31","aiSystem":"Meta AI, the AI search tool in Facebook Messenger (Llama 3, according to a computer scientist quoted by CBC)","aiProduct":"Meta AI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the man, after Meta AI confirmed the scam number he called it; the caller took over his Facebook account, a $500 Apple gift card was bought through his PayPal account (PayPal later reversed it) and a bitcoin purchase was attempted, and he had to cancel cards, lock accounts and file fraud reports. CBC describes him as scammed out of hundreds of dollars.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the man who asked Meta AI and called the number. His wife found the number but no harm to her is reported.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"CA-MB","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/facebook-customer-support-scam-1.7219581","primarySourceLabel":"CBC News, Winnipeg man caught in scam after AI told him fake Facebook customer support number was legitimate, 31 May 2024","firstPublishedAt":"2026-11-02T03:11:16.904969+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-11-02T03:11:16.904969+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["scam-support-number","account-takeover","messenger-assistant","fraud-report"]}]}