The Gold Scam File brings you the stories of those unfortunates who have, in one way or another fallen victim to various scams and cons with the hope that you can learn from their experiences and avoid falling victim yourself. Admittedly, many of these victims were blinded by the vision of easy money and gifts from the heavens. Often these cons are so obvious it is hard to believe someone would fall for them. A few may find themselves on the verge of competing for the illustrious Darwin Award, given each year to those who have rendered the greatest of service to humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool.
Note: if you need tips on selling your gold jewelry, scrap or coins, see Cash for Gold: Caveat Venditor.
Forget Tiffany’s, I Buy My Gold in the Walmart Parking Lot
The Glendora Patch reports the case of a woman conned out of $1500 and other valuables by a pair of men in a Walmart parking lot. The woman was approached by one of the men, who claimed he had gold items, but had no idea how much they were worth. A second man appeared, joined the conversation, then offered to get the items appraised. A while later, he comes back stating the items appraised at $25,000.
The first man then asks the woman if she would help him with a local jeweler. He would give her the gold items to take to the jeweler, but he needed some collateral from her before giving her the items. She gave him $1500 cash and a few other items of value she happened to have on her. At the jeweler, she found out the items were worthless, and the two men were nowhere to be found.
Forget Tiffany’s II, Food 4 Less Shopping List… milk, bread, bananas, gold bullion bar…
The victim was approached by a man while she was standing in front of a Food 4 Less store in Yucca Valley, CA as reported in the San Bernardino County Sun recently. The man had what he claimed were gold bullion bars he needed to sell for whatever he could get, as he claimed to desperately need money for a medical emergency involving a young child.
A second man comes up, joins in, and then offers to get an appraisal for the gold. The man returns a while later, saying the gold bars appraised at $20,000 each. He then hands the first man a large sum of cash, and departs with one of the gold bars. The woman then agrees to buy the remaining bar for $7000.
Once she brought the bar into a gold store, fully expecting a nice $13,000 profit, she was sadly informed that the gold bullion bar was a fake.
Global Bullion Exchange Cons Investors Out of $29.5 Million
Telemarketing employees of Global Bullion Exchange in Florida used Google Earth satellite images to locate upscale homes owned by individuals they thought would have money to invest. Stocks were heading lower and gold higher, so they had no problem selling the idea of making gold and silver bullion purchases.
Problem was, Global Bullion Exchange did not have gold bullion or silver bullion sufficient to cover the investments, and paperwork was falsified to show investors ownership of bullion bars that did not exist. The Exchange itself was a fabrication, these often novice precious metals investors were fooled by very professional looking transaction papers received after money was invested. The scheme’s mastermind, Jamie Campany, faces up to 25 years in prison. He agreed to an interview with ABC News, explaining how the scam worked. 1,400 people fell for this scam, with the average investment of over $20,000, and it appears most of the money they invested will never be recovered.
A little due diligence would have easily uncovered problems, most obvious, of course, that the company was not officially licensed or registered to sell commodities in states where sales were made. Know who you are dealing with before making such a large investment of any kind.
$3,000,000 Lost to Gold Ore Mining Scam
The Belfast Telegraph reports a scam involving gold ore. Investors in the US were informed that they could purchase unprocessed, but mined, gold ore from an African mine at a substantial discount, free of any taxes or fees for the sum of $10,000,000. Refined, the ore would be worth $100,000,000 . The contact, a certain John Recketts, provided an Irish passport as part of his bona fides. An initial sum of $3,000,000 had been paid up front, but the security team the investors hired to escort the unprocessed gold journeyed to West Africa, and after 3 months of searching, could not find Mr. Recketts.
At this point the investors contacted the FBI and Interpol. An investigation revealed that the passport for Mr. Recketts was forged, although it did have a valid number which belonged to an Irish woman in Dublin. Corporate addresses given to the investors for various offices in of firms in Benin, London, Burkina Faso and Togo were also fake. The scam is believed to have been set up by a Nigerian gang operating out of Lagos, but not much is known with any degree of certainty.
The Old Switcheroo
According to a recent FoxNews report, a couple of pawn shops in southern Georgia and two in Florida were recently scammed by a customer who came in with several gold jewelry items he claimed he needed to sell as he needed quick cash due to a fire destroying his house. Each pawn shop authenticated the gold items and gave the seller an offer. The seller(aka customer) refused this initial offer, then grabbed the his jewelry which was lying on the counter, and put it in his pocket. Once the offer was increased, the seller took the items out of his pocket and placed them back on the counter…or did he?
Due to the high value of the items presented, the pawn shop needed to go to the bank to withdraw additional funds. The pawn shop sent its representative to the bank to withdraw the money, accompanied by the seller. Once at the bank, the customer received the money, in one case $8,000, in another $9,000. The pawn shop representative and the seller were then to go back to the pawn shop and fill out the gold sale forms, which included a mandatory thumbprint. As both walked back towards the pawn shop, the seller suddenly disappeared along with the money. Subsequent testing of the gold left with the pawn shop proved the items to be fakes. The gold jewelry items the seller placed into his pocket were not the same ones that came back out, although the looked identical. This sleight of hand cost the pawn shops dearly; in the future they will get the thumbprint and paperwork done before agreeing to test any gold items.
Update 2/9/2012:
Another variation of the same scheme occurred in Dalton, Georgia. In this case, a collection of gold jewelry contained in a brown paper bag was brought in for an appraisal. The jewelry was tested, and an offer of $7,500 was given. The seller had put the jewelry back into the bag after the testing was finished. The seller then accepted the offer, but as the clerk looked away for a moment, the bag with the real items was swapped for one with fake items. The seller left the store with the $7,500 and the real gold.
Finder’s Keepers, Buyers Weepers
This particular scam has been seen often in Paris and has appeared in London, as well. A beggar approaches a passerby saying he found a “gold” ring on the street, and would the passerby be interested in buying it for a bargain price of $30. The beggar seems sincere and in dire need of money, so the passerby takes pity on the beggar, gives him the money, and beams with a touch of pride at the good fortune that presented itself. Later, however, on appraisal, the ring is found to be a brass ring commonly used in plumbing fixtures, and worth only a pittance.
The beggar, of course, has a pocketful of additional “gold rings”, a wad of cash, and millions of potential victims walking the streets unaware.
No comments:
Post a Comment