General Hospital star Steve Burton’s likeness has been misused in a disturbing AI scam that cost a California woman her life savings and her home.
Abigail Ruvalcaba, a Southern California resident, told KTLA she believed she had formed an online romance with Burton after connecting via Facebook more than a year ago. Over time, she received videos she thought were from the soap actor, but they were in fact deepfakes created with artificial intelligence.
“To me, it looks real, even now,” Abigail said. “I don’t know anything about AI.”
Through those fake clips, scammers convinced her to send more than $81,000 in various forms, including checks, Zelle transfers, and Bitcoin, with the promise of reimbursement. The scam escalated further when Abigail sold her family’s condo for $350,000 at the suggestion of the impersonator, believing it would help secure her future with “Burton.”
“I remember you had suggested selling this place. I said no. Now I don’t care,” she texted the scammer, to which they replied, “If selling the place is what will give us a fresh start and bring us closer to where we both want to be, then I am behind you.”
Her daughter, Vivian Ruvalcaba, said the property was sold in less than three weeks. On a GoFundMe page, she revealed the condo had only $45,000 left on its mortgage before it was flipped and resold. She also shared that Abigail’s bipolar disorder made her more vulnerable to manipulation.
“I begged [the buyers] to reverse the sale. I told them we’d give them their money back, just forget the deal ever happened. I pleaded with them to do the right thing,” Vivian wrote. “Instead of calling me back, my parents received a three-day quit or pay notice taped to their door. That forced me to retain an eviction attorney on top of the real estate attorney already fighting to get the property back.”
The family now faces eviction on September 3.
Abigail admits she feels ashamed. “I feel stupid, taken. Why is somebody asking me for money? I feel like a dummy. I was in a fantasy world, obviously.”
Burton, meanwhile, told ABC7 Los Angeles that he’s aware of scammers misusing his image, and that Abigail is far from the only victim. “That I know of who have lost money, it’s in the hundreds. It’s in the hundreds,” he said, adding, “First of all, I don’t need your money. I would never ask for money.”
When shown one of the deepfake clips used in the con, Burton acknowledged, “Sounds like my voice for sure, 100%.”
