Bay Area victim duped by AI-generated Trump gold investment scam: Here's what to know

PITTSBURG, Calif. (KGO) -- Promises to get rich quick have left some unsuspecting victims out thousands when they thought they'd be "Trump-made millionaires." They were duped by what appears to be AI videos of the President, Bank of America's CEO and even Elon Musk talking about the Golden Eagles Project - a way to make money by purchasing and then trading in collectible patriot eagles at Bank of America.

The cost for one of the golden eagles is $59 and the trade-in value supposedly more than $100,000. One Pittsburg man thought he'd be a millionaire. Turns out, the golden eagle is worth less than it's weight.

Marine Corp Veteran Wesley Skelton is dumping out $2,500 worth of Golden eagles along with what he thought 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," said Skelton.

Which is why Skelton bought 324 of them.

He thought he was going to make more than $35 million.

Skelton became aware of the project after watching what he now knows were fake, likely AI-generated videos of President Donald Trump on Telegram.

"And I want to congratulate everyone who has already gotten their Trump golden eagles and exchanged them for a new future," says the voice in one of the videos.

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There were also fake videos of Bank of America's CEO and even Elon Musk.

"You can even visit any Tesla shop and trade your Trump gold eagles for a Tesla car or use them to invest in Tesla or SpaceX stocks," says the voice in another video.

A Bank of America Spokesperson tells 7 On Your Side, "It's a scam that Bank of America has nothing to do with."

Skelton told his colleagues at the VA in Martinez, who he says tried to warn him.

"They said it sounds like a scam to me," said Skelton.

But he couldn't resist.

"They say Donald J. Trump on the front with his picture," said Skelton.

And on the back, "In God we trust."

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"You trusted," asked reporter Melanie Woodrow. "How do you feel about that now?" she continued.

"I don't trust them at all, I really don't," said Skelton. "I don't think they're worth anything," he continued.

I took them to Witter Coins in San Francisco.

"It's scary, you hate to see it happen to people," said Seth Chandler, owner of Witter Coins.

Chandler had his doubts before we even tested the items.

"It's clearly just from feel not gold," said Chandler referring to the golden eagle.

And the silver coins?

"Feels more like nickel too," said Chandler.

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Using a precious metal analyzer, we got our answers.

"We see we have predominantly copper, a little bit of iron, a little bit of nickel and just trace amounts of other metals cobalt and silver. There is effectively no silver," said James Andrews, Witter Coins showroom manager, referring to the coin Skelton thought was silver.

"I would say you could just use this as a paper weight," Andrews continued.

The Golden Eagle?

"We have almost the whole middle of the periodic table here, but no gold," said Andrews.

Andrews said it was not even worth a dollar.

"I was angry, now I laugh about it because it's not real. It just isn't real," said Skelton.

Not real and too good to be true. Chandler says in all things money, you can bet your last dollar when that's the case.

"Just run as fast as you can," said Chandler.

Skelton didn't get very far with the seller. They haven't responded to 7 On Your Side Investigates either. The credit card processer agreed to refund a couple of his purchases that were within the last 30 days. He says he got around $600 back.

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