"Abigail Ruvalcaba was intrigued when a handsome daytime soap opera actor she'd been watching for years reached out to her in a Facebook message. His rugged exterior softened by his piercing blue eyes and an almost shy smile disarmed her. She answered him, pushing away any doubts as to why the Emmy winner would suddenly contact her. They talked on the phone."
""I get a thousand messages a day and 100 of them are people who think they're talking to me on other apps-Telegram, WhatsApp-my agent, my manager, my publicist, nobody will be reaching out to you," Burton said in a Facebook video warning his fans of such scams. "Please be careful. You are not speaking to me anywhere unless I message you back from my Instagram @1steveburton.""
Abigail Ruvalcaba responded to a Facebook message from someone posing as a daytime soap actor and entered an online relationship. The imposter sent videos professing love, arranged plans to buy a beach house, and persuaded her to send money until she sold her home. Scammers increasingly use artificial intelligence and deepfakes to impersonate celebrities and exploit victims' trust. Steve Burton receives thousands of misleading messages and warns that no one will contact fans except through his verified Instagram @1steveburton. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission recorded nearly 65,000 romance-scam reports and $1.14 billion in losses.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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