Missouri Prosecutor warns of rising gold bar scam

(Missourinet) – All that glitters could give ya the jitters! There are new warnings about a gold bar scam in Missouri. US Attorney for the Western District of Missouri Matthew Price says his office recently prosecuted a man, who admitted being part of this international scam. Price says the man was a courier, assigned to pick up cash or gold bars from people who had been duped by the scheme. He says reports of this type of scam are rising and that scammers’ tactics involve hard-core pressure…

“It is pervasive and sadly increasing. Elderly people across the United States are being specifically targeted: These scammers are preying on the moment and they’re preying on emotions and they’re preying on fear and anxiety.

“The scam starts out with an initial contact in which a scammer pressures someone to convert their assets to all cash or to gold bars after convincing potential victims their bank accounts have been compromised. The next level of the scam involves a government impersonator who tries to make it all sound legit.

“So, the government impersonators would then instruct the victims to remove their savings from the bank and purchase large amounts of gold online, package the cash or gold in a box, and then deliver the box with the cash or the gold to another fake government agent (the “courier”) who meets the victim somewhere for a hand-to-hand delivery.”

Approximately 150,000 victims over the age of 60 reported fraud losses of almost $5 billion in the last 12 months.

If you, or someone you know, suspect potential fraud, you can report it to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Suspected online fraud – including government impersonation scams asking for gold bar payments – can be reported to The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – ic3.gov.