New Chinese AI Scam Uses Fake Wounded Veterans to Sell Patriotic Merch

There are, justifiably, few groups of people so honored and respected as our nation’s veterans, especially those who were wounded in action. I’m a third-generation veteran myself, my Dad was a World War II veteran as were all my uncles, two of whom were wounded in action; my grandfather was a Great War veteran. We love and respect all our men and women who honorably served, with a special respect for those who paid a very real and physical price.

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So, when we learn that Chinese scammers are using artificial intelligence (AI)-generated clips of non-existent wounded warriors to sell cheap, fake merchandise to gullible people, that’s especially loathsome. And yet this is happening; this account talks about the United Kingdom but you can bet they are trying it here, too.

War-wounded UK military veterans hawking supposedly “handmade” patriotic items in emotional social media videos are nothing but AI-generated phonies selling cheap junk from China, according to a new report.

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“They’re despicable,” Army veteran Raymond Gilbert told the outlet after he was tricked into paying $200 on what he thought was a wooden flag figure made by a disabled fellow military serviceman.

But what arrived, he said, was a package with Chinese writing on the envelope, and inside, a printed image of a flag simply glued onto a piece of plywood.

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Here are some stills from these fakes.

War-wounded military veterans peddling cheap patriotic merch are actually AI fakes out of China: report https://t.co/9zCXRXRF8F pic.twitter.com/8YASvmGGz9— New York Post (@nypost) September 27, 2026

They aren’t even good fakes, but they must be working to some degree, or they wouldn’t keep trying them.

Like any new technology, AI sure has its ups and downs. Among the pros? Faster, safer, more efficient manufacturing. AI can be a valuable research tool, a sort of search engine on steroids. It can fact-check our work and it can even help us with our grammar. And those are just of the minor things.

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And, given that these scammers are in China, there’s nothing we can do about it, and you can bet China isn’t interested in putting a halt to this. Why would they?

This is another internet scam of many, even if the use of faked injured veterans does spark anger. Be alert. Always know who you are dealing with. And if our wounded warriors are a concern of yours, there are plenty of ways you can pitch in to help them; for one thing, your local VA hospital may be looking for volunteers. That’s a much better way to help our wounded warriors than buying cheap Chinese crap from a scammer.

(*) Full article: https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/09/27/new-chinese-ai-scam-uses-fake-wounded-veterans-to-sell-patriotic-merch-n2207449