FBI warns of ‘precious metal’ scammers, reports over $55m in losses

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The FBI is warning of scammers who are tricking victims, typically the elderly, into liquidating their assets into cash, or use it buy precious metal.

According to the FBI, the scammers will first present themselves to the victim as a government official, or a financial/tech expert, and claim the victim’s accounts were hacked, or at risk of being hacked. The scammer will then instruct the victims to liquidate their assets into cash – or use it to buy silver, gold, or other precious metals to “protect” their accounts. In some cases, the FBI says scammers will tell the victims to wire money to a metal dealer who will then ship the metals out directly to the victim.

“These ‘gold bar scams,’ as we call them, are becoming more and more of a problem,” said a representative of the FBI. “Our Threat Operation’s Center – so our main telephone and internet hotline, just in the last half of 2023 received complaints from victims of gold bar scams totaling $55 million in losses.”

The scammers will then send an associate out to the victim to pick up the cash or metal in an effort to “safeguard” the victim’s assets. According to the FBI, the victim usually never hears back from the scammers, and they in-turn lose everything.

“Anytime you see somebody lose money to a scammer it’s hard,” said a representative of the FBI. “Anyone who’s worked a case with these elderly victims will tell you that there’s few things more heartbreaking than sitting at a kitchen table with an old person and they come to the realization that everything they’ve worked their entire life for is gone.”

The FBI rep told News 8 Thursday, while there is a legitimate market for these kinds of sales, the FBI has worked with businesses selling precious metals in the past, adding, they are pretty receptive to authorities in helping deter these crimes.

The FBI emphasized that no honest expert or government official will ever ask you to purchase metals or pull out your cash if your accounts are truly at risk. It also encourages people to be weary when clicking around online – and avoid any unsolicited pop-ups, texts or emails from unknown individuals.

Victims of these scams are being asked to report them to the FBI here . Any victim 60 or older who needs assistance, can call the Department of Justice Hotline at 1-833-372-8311.

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