A Southern California woman, Abigail Ruvalcaba, lost her home after falling victim to a romance scam involving artificial intelligence. The 66-year-old believed she was in a relationship with Steve Burton, an actor from ‘General Hospital.’ The scam began over a year ago when Abigail met someone she thought was Burton on Facebook. The scammer used AI to create deepfake videos and messages, convincing Abigail that she was communicating with the real actor.
According to ABC7, the scammer manipulated Abigail into sending at least $81,304 in gift cards, cash, and bitcoin. The situation worsened when Abigail sold her Harbor City condo for $350,000, planning to send $70,000 of that money to the scammer. Fortunately, her daughter, Vivian Ruvalcaba, intervened just in time to prevent the transaction.
Vivian, who is her mother’s power of attorney, shared their story to raise awareness about the dangers of AI technology and online scams. The family has filed a lawsuit to reverse the home sale, arguing that Abigail lacks the mental capacity to execute such a contract due to her mental health issues, including Bipolar 1 Disorder.
Steve Burton, the real actor, has encountered similar scams before. He stated that hundreds of women have been duped by imposters pretending to be him. Burton emphasized that he would never ask fans for money and described this type of scam as an epidemic.
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