Featured Image Credit: Steve Burton/Instagram
A woman lost her entire life savings after an AI scammer impersonated a Hollywood star.
While artificial intelligence offers countless beneficial applications and is rapidly transforming our world, the technology's potential for malicious use is pretty worrying.
Scientists have already developed the ability to use AI to design brand-new viruses, which could be dangerously exploited if they fell into the wrong hands.
Beyond biological threats, AI scams are becoming more sophisticated and widespread, with a number of victims coming forward with their personal horror stories.
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Just recently, the FBI warned about an 'elaborate' AI scam that uses a three-stage approach to steal $1 billion from the accounts of retired seniors.
Now, another victim's story illustrates just how convincing these scams can be.
A Los Angeles woman lost her entire life savings after scammers used AI videos of a General Hospital star to trick her into believing she was in a romantic relationship.
Abigail Ruvalcaba said she received multiple messages, including deepfake videos, that she thought came from Steve Burton. The actor played Jason Morgan on the popular soap opera since 1991.
“I thought I was in love,” Ruvalcaba told KTLA. “I thought we were going to have a good life together.”
According to KABC, the scammers initially contacted Ruvalcaba through Facebook Messenger before moving the conversation to WhatsApp. This is a common tactic that makes the communication harder to trace and report.
Ruvalcaba told KTLA that she first sent more than $81,000 to the person she believed was Burton. But that was just the beginning.
She then sold her family's condominium and handed over the entire $350,000 in proceeds to the scammer.
Ruvalcaba's daughter, Vivian, told news outlets that her mother has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. She explained that her mother completely believed the fake Burton when he claimed he needed money after his home was destroyed in a fire.
"The beach house is something we will love, baby," one message from the scammer read.
Ruvalcaba may now have to move out of her family home due to the financial devastation, KTLA noted. Meanwhile, Vivian told reporters that the family is suing in an attempt to reverse the sale of the condo, which has since been resold to another owner.
"Now she's in complete debt, and now she's going to have to file for bankruptcy," Vivian told KABC.
KABC also showed the real Steve Burton one of the AI videos that was sent to Ruvalcaba. "Sounds like my voice for sure, 100%," he told the outlet, suggesting just how convincing these deepfakes have become.
