A California woman has lost her paid-off home and more than $81,000 after falling victim to a sophisticated AI deepfake romance scam that made her believe she was in a relationship with a famous actor.
The victim, identified only as Abigail, was targeted by scammers who used advanced artificial intelligence technology to create convincing video calls, voice messages, and communications that appeared to be from Steve Burton, an actor known for his role in “General Hospital,” according to a Beyond Connected podcast episode.
“The scam was so convincing that she believed she was in a real relationship,” explained Abigail’s daughter Vivian, who shared the family’s story to warn others. The scammers methodically isolated Abigail from her family while building what felt like an authentic romantic connection.
The criminals manipulated Abigail into sending money repeatedly until they had drained $81,000 from her accounts. The scam then escalated dramatically when they convinced her to sell her paid-off home—the property where she had planned to spend her retirement years.
This case represents a growing trend in romance scams that leverage artificial intelligence to create increasingly convincing deepfakes. According to the Federal Trade Commission, romance scams cost victims a staggering $1.14 billion in 2023 alone, as reported by AARP.
“It’s scary because biology taught us to believe the person we are looking at and the voice that we’re hearing,” Ricardo Amper, founder and CEO of Incode Technologies, told AARP’s Perfect Scam podcast. “This is not really about your instinct. It is more about how technology is evolving in a way that humans cannot even detect it.”
Similar cases have made headlines recently, including a French woman who lost approximately $850,000 to scammers using an AI-generated version of actor Brad Pitt. The criminals convinced her that “Brad” needed money for cancer treatments, according to a spokesperson for the actor.
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