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Credit: Video Screenshot, 'General Hospital', ABCFor more than sixty years, dedicated fans have been tuning in every afternoon to watch the long-running soap opera, General Hospital, on ABC. Those fans feel that beloved characters like Luke and Laura Spencer, Sonny Corinthos, the Quartermaines, and Alexis Davis are more like family or friends than fictional people on a screen. Over the years, fans have come to know them better than they know some of their own family — seeing their highs, lows, love interests, enemies, and complicated family dynamics.
Unfortunately, that fierce loyalty to General Hospital and its characters can lead to fans being taken advantage of in the worst ways.
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Abigail Ruvalcaba is one of General Hospital’s many loyal fans, and she was absolutely thrilled when, more than a year ago, she received a message from a man she thought was Steve Burton. Burton, 55, has played Jason Morgan on the soap opera for more than thirty years. They messaged back and forth, and eventually, their friendship turned into a relationship.
Ruvalcaba was overjoyed, saying, “I thought I was in love. I thought we were going to have a good life together.”
Sadly, it was all just one big scam, and now she has lost everything.
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According to a report from KTLA5, the video messages Ms. Ruvalcaba thought she was receiving from Burton were AI-generated. Once she was in a “relationship” with Burton, he began asking her for money, and she willingly gave it to him.
Her family said she fell victim to the emotional manipulation and sent the scammer over $81,000 in cash.
“And then checks and Zelle and Bitcoin, it was everything,” she said.
The scam continued and after giving away her life savings, Abigail agreed to sell her family’s condo for $350,000 and send the proceeds to the scammer.
While it took nearly a year for the scammer to get into a relationship with Ms. Ruvalcaba, it only took three weeks for them to steal everything she had.
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According to Ms. Ruvalcaba’s daughter, Vivian, her mother has struggled with mental health issues for years, including severe bipolar disorder. Vivian believes that this made her mother an easy target for the scammers. And initially, her mother refused to believe that she wasn’t in a real relationship with the actor, using the AI-generated videos as “proof.” Even now, Ms. Ruvalcaba struggles to understand how the video was created by artificial intelligence.
In one of the messages sent from the scammer to Ms. Ruvalcaba, they speak about a beach house they were telling her they were going to buy for the both of them. Another talked about the condo she ended up selling
“The beach house is something we will love, baby.”
“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.”
Vivian says that as soon as she found out about the scam, she immediately contacted everyone involved, providing them with her mother’s medical documents and her Power of Attorney. Vivian has Power of Attorney over her mother, as Ms. Ruvalcaba is not capable of making her own decisions.
Unfortunately, that might not prevent them from losing their home.
The person Ms. Ruvalcaba sold her condo to quickly flipped the unit and sold it to someone else. Despite providing the paperwork and medical documents, the new owners told Vivian they would sell it back to her for $100,000 more than what they paid for it. It is money that Vivian and her family do not have.
In the past, Mr. Burton has warned fans against scammers posing as him on social media. He said that, if he ever does send a message, it’s on Instagram, but he will NEVER ask anyone for money. Those pretending to represent, like his agent or manager, will also never send messages asking for money.
Despite the odds being stacked against them, Ms. Ruvalcaba and Vivian are going to fight to keep their home. The mother and daughter plan on suing the companies that bought the condo. Since Ms. Ruvalcaba could not make decisions for herself, they are arguing that the sale was not legal, and is therefore null and void. They are hoping their attorney can stop the eviction, which is set for September 3.
Vivian has set up a GoFundMe for her mother, hoping some kind strangers will help her mother start to rebuild her life that has been completely upended by this AI romance scam.
The FBI has offered several tips to help prevent people from falling for romance scams, including never giving money to someone you have only communicated with online or by phone. You also need to be wary of people you meet on a dating or social media site who quickly want to communicate only directly. Never send photos to someone you do not know, and beware of people who come up with excuses as to why they can’t meet you in person.
Have you ever fallen victim to an AI scam? Do you think more people will fall for these kinds of scams as AI gets more complex and realistic? How do you think law enforcement agencies and financial institutions should handle these scams? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!