Raymond Gilbert deepfake video — Sep 2026

British Army veteran Raymond Gilbert was defrauded of £154.99 after falling victim to a sophisticated pity scam on TikTok that utilized AI-generated videos to impersonate an injured ex-serviceman. The incident highlights a growing trend of deceptive online campaigns that exploit public sympathy for military personnel to sell low-quality goods.

What happened

Raymond Gilbert, a 63-year-old veteran who served as a quality manager for the British Army in Afghanistan, encountered a TikTok account that appeared to belong to a fellow ex-serviceman. The account featured professionally produced, emotionally charged videos depicting a man who claimed to be injured and working from a garage to supplement his income by crafting handmade wooden flags. Believing the story to be genuine, Gilbert clicked through to an external website that appeared legitimate, complete with evidence of previous sales.

Upon purchasing a wooden flag for £154.99, Gilbert discovered the product was a low-quality printed image on glued plywood, shipped in packaging with Chinese writing. The scam is part of a broader wave of "pity scams" identified by the BBC, which involve dozens of coordinated bot accounts flooding comment sections to bolster the credibility of AI-generated content. Experts note that these videos are created in minutes using generative AI, allowing scammers to produce highly realistic, emotionally manipulative narratives that are difficult for consumers to distinguish from reality. While platforms like TikTok, Meta, and YouTube have begun removing identified accounts for violating policies against deceptive practices, experts warn that the ease of creating new accounts makes this a persistent challenge for consumer protection.