AI-created likenesses of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have duped MAGA faithful into buying a gold coin worth just a fraction of what they believed.
Videos featuring the likenesses of Trump, Musk, and the CEO of Bank of America convinced some people to buy into the "Golden Eagles Project." The videos assured those who bought in that they'd become "Trump-made millionaires."
Victims were asked to purchase the golden eagle pendant and coins and then trade them in at Bank of America for a substantial return. Marine veteran Wesley Skelton, of Pittsburg, California, now owns $2,500 worth of Golden Eagles, and what he believed were Trump silver coins.
"He said that he was going to help the people become millionaires. I could trade these in for cash at Bank of America. Supposedly $110,000 a piece," Skelton told ABC7.
That was not the case.
Skelton said he bought 324 of the Golden Eagles and hoped to make approximately $35 million.
The vet said he saw the original video while he was using the Telegram app.
One video featuring an AI-generated Musk told viewers that Golden Eagle buyers could "visit any Tesla shop and trade your Trump gold eagles for a Tesla car or use them to invest in Tesla or SpaceX stocks."
Neither of those claims are true.
A reporter from ABC 7 took the coins featured in the ad — which have Donald Trump's face on one side and the phrase "In God We Trust" on the back — to a coin shop to see if they had any value at all.
Seth Chandler, the owner of Witter Coins, told the reporter that even touching them, he could tell the coins were not real gold, and he said he believed the silver coins were just nickel.
Skelton said he's tried to get his money back, and did receive a $600 refund from his credit card company. However, the seller has been unresponsive to Skelton's refund requests since.
This isn't the first time that Trump supporters have taken a financial loss after being duped into thinking the president was going to make them rich.
During Trump's first term, some of his supporters were convinced that he was going to "revalue" the world's currencies, making every form of money equal to the U.S. dollar, according to the Daily Beast. Some Trump supporters decided to invest hundreds or thousands into Iraqi Dinar — which at the time was extremely cheap compared to the dollar — and then become rich after Trump's "revaluation."
The investors never saw a return on their money.
