A new twist on an old scam involves separating older Americans from their savings — one gold bar at a time. Authorities say criminals posing as federal agents persuade retirees to empty their bank accounts, convert the money to gold, then hand it over to couriers who assure victims they will protect it from bad actors. In Laramie, Wyo., police said a suspicious coin shop owner helped bust a $460,000 gold purchase and joined officers and an elderly customer to stage an operation at a Qdoba, where a courier using the code word “tulip” was arrested, according to Fox News.
Similar scams have been reported in many states. In Wisconsin, a false laptop virus alert led to a so-called Federal Trade Commission “fraud department” and a bid to protect a woman’s savings, according to Fox. In Washington, scammers spent months gaining a woman’s trust before making off with more than $3 million in gold, according to KING-TV. And in New York, a gold bullion scheme has stolen more than $100 million from victims over the past two years, according to the Tutor. Such projects, aimed directly at seniors and often linked to organized crime networks abroad, cost Americans nearly $312 million last year alone, according to KOMO News. (In one case, officers made an arrest using chocolate coins as bait.)
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