When Craig Wilkinson responded to a Facebook ad from what seemed to be a legitimate investment firm, he believed it would help him build a nest egg for his family.
But now the disabled U.S. veteran is on a mission to warn Americans about cyber-fraud red flags after losing more than $170,000 to online scammers.
“When I was younger, I figured the V.A. was gonna take care of me. I’m doing fine like that. But then having three kids with my wife, I started thinking that I should have something for the future,” Wilkinson told ABC News.
Wilkinson is one of the increasing number of people who have fallen prey to sophisticated investment scams, in which charlatans gain victims’ trust by posing as friendly, reputable financial advisers.
Investment scams that started on social media accounted for roughly half of the $2.1 billion lost to financial fraud in the U.S. in 2025, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Online scamming is now a complex and thriving global industry, ranging from “pig-butchering” romance scams that begin on dating apps to fake cryptocurrency investment schemes.
The practice has been supercharged by the rise of generative AI, which allow scammers to keep up personalized dialogues with far more victims at lower cost.
Targeted ads and social engineering
ABC did not say what branch Wilkinson had served in, but one segment shows him wearing what appears to be the patch of a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman.
Wilkinson told ABC that he had originally responded to an ad that appeared to be from a legitimate financial firm he had previously researched. But the ad was actually fraudulent.
That ad may actually have been targeted at Wilkinson based on his personal data, just as legitimate companies use Facebook’s all-seeing advertising apparatus to find likely customers.
“Social media gives scammers the edge,” FTC senior data analyst Emma Fletcher told ABC News. “They can target people based on their personal details, their interests, their shopping habits.
“The scams today seem much less scripted in many cases, and more dynamic and customized to the individual that’s being targeted.”
The fake ad led Wilkinson to a financial advice WhatsApp group where he was matched with a ‘mentor’ named Emily. It purported to help members become better investors, giving regular stock market updates and educational classes.
‘Emily’ seemed to make an effort to get to know Wilkinson and build his trust, with “questions to get to know you” or “how’s your mom doing?”
After an initial investment of $5,500, Wilkinson was ultimately induced to hand over roughly $170,000 as his total returns appeared to grow into the millions.
But when he tried to withdraw the money he was told it could not be done without paying steep fees. That’s a common pattern with investment scams, and often the victim never gets their money back at all.
A spokesperson for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said it now bans financial service ads from linking to messaging services such as WhatsApp.
“We aggressively combat scams across our platforms with strong default protections and advanced detection systems,” the company said. “We’re continuing to invest in new technology… to help people spot and avoid scams.”
Wilkinson decided to contact police and the FTC, which are now investigating and working to potentially recover his money, ABC News reports.
Red flags to watch out for
So how do you avoid such scams? According to the FTC, there are four basic signs.
First, scammers often pose as legitimate organizations such as the IRS, a bank, or a financial company. So you should always double check where the outreach is actually coming from.
Second, scammers often say there’s “a problem or a prize”. It could be a family emergency, a government investigation, an overdue debt, or a once in a lifetime competition. They may even say you’re being scammed by somebody else and that they can help you stop it.
Third, watch out for a false urgency. Scammers thrive on making you feel like you can’t take the time to think about things properly, or else you might suffer negative consequences or miss a rare opportunity.
Finally, scammers will generally ask you to pay in a very specific way. They might want you to use their specific app or website, or send them a specific cryptocurrency.
