ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Law enforcement are issuing a public service announcement to beware of new scamming tactics. Last summer, the trending scam was gift cards. This year, New York State Police say it's gold. That's because a small amount can be worth a lot.
“It’s very easy to get $500,000 worth of gold. You can fit it in a small box,†Mark Buttarazzi, the owner of Monroe Coin and Gold Exchange, said.
State Police say scammers are establishing trust with victims via text message or on social media and asking them to purchase gold and send it to them in the mail.
State Attorney General Letitia James issued a similar consumer alert on Friday warning of the trend.
“These people are reaching out to you via unsolicited text messages or social media,†Troop E's Public Information Officer Trooper Lynnea Crane said. “They’re a person that you might not know, and it’s unsolicited. They create a relationship with the victim. They will start building their trust, trying to get them to invest their money into something that they think that they would get a financial gain out of. They're taking advantage of these victims by doing that. And then once the gold bars are gone or the precious metals or, you know, sometimes it’s even cash, that money is gone and these victims are left trying to pick up the pieces and understand what’s going on.â€
“There’s scammers out there posing as IRS agents, as companies, that are trying to protect your identity,†Buttarazzi said. “And they’re calling people, mostly older people at random, and telling them that either their identity’s been hacked and they need to protect their assets or that they’re the IRS and that they owe a lot of money.â€
He says multiple of his customers have fallen victim to these scams. One of them, an elderly woman, lost half a million dollars.
“They’re very innocent,†Buttarazzi said. “They’re like children, almost. They believe what they’re being told on the phone. Even though it seems like, how could somebody fall for that? But they do. They're just very trusting.â€
“They’re taking advantage of these victims by doing that,†Crane said. “And then once the gold bars are gone or the precious metals or sometimes it’s even cash, that money is gone and these victims are left trying to pick up the pieces and understand what’s going on. Gold, it can be harder to track those things. And it can be harder for us to recover it. Once it’s gone, it’s gone a lot of the times. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t take every investigative step to try to find who’s responsible for these actions.â€
Crane says these scams lead to intense investigations involving multiple agencies, like the Federal Bureau of Investigations. If scammers are caught, suspects face grand larceny and other felony charges. In the Hudson Valley, one man was arrested on Tuesday for grand larceny after allegedly scamming an elderly woman out of $180,000 using gold.
“Sometimes these victims don’t even know that they’re victims; they really do legitimately think that they’re investing in something that could bring true financial gain to them, and they’re losing their life savings over that,†Crane said.
State Police encourages New Yorkers to speak with their loved ones, even if you don't believe you're being scammed, before sending anything to a stranger.
“What do you think about this? Does this sound like a scam? And they might not think that they’re even being scammed,†Crane said. “They just think that they’re investing in some financial gain right there in their in this investment company. But no bank or a law enforcement agency or government agency is going to ask you to buy gold and then ship it someplace that’s just not legitimate,†she said.
“When you’re spending that kind of money, I mean, you need to have trust in who you’re buying from,†Buttarazzi explained. “People come in here, [and] I want them to enjoy their experience and trust me, so they come back. So I try to give everybody the best deal I can.â€
If you or your loved one may be a victim to these scams, you're encouraged to report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center to help prevent someone else from falling victim.
