It’s a solid gold rip-off.
Someone posing as a federal investigator told a 64-year-old woman to convert nearly $800,000 into gold bars to protect it from identity thieves. Then he stole the gold, police said.
It’s a nationwide cash-to-gold scam and it’s preyed on at least a dozen senior citizens in Montgomery County, Maryland, State's Attorney John McCarthy said.
“This woman lived in Leisure World. This man was operating in Leisure World. He was operating his business in parking lots adjacent to Leisure World,” McCarthy said.
Montgomery County Detective Sean Petty described a call last week with a victim.
“It was a well-crafted scam,” Petty said.
The victim described wiring nearly $800,000 to a gold bullion company after a phone call from someone who identified himself as a federal investigator. The man said that buying gold would help protect her from a ring of dangerous identity thieves.
On two separate occasions at parking lots near Leisure World, the woman turned the gold bars over to someone who she believed was a federal government courier, police said.
After a relative helped her realize she’d been scammed, investigators from the police department's financial crimes unit stepped in and set up another handoff. This time, it was for $376,000 in gold bars.
When the suspect, Wenhui Sun, of Lake Arbor, California, showed up to meet in the parking lot, a police officer disguised as a victim handed over the money.
“They were in disguise, absolutely. That is what we felt was going to be best for this particular case, to pull it off,” Petty said.
Police arrested Sun but have yet to find a trace of the $800,000 in gold bars.
The FBI's tips on avoiding the cash-to-gold scam
- Do not click on unsolicited pop-ups on your computer, links sent by text message or email links and attachments
- Do not contact unknown telephone numbers provided in pop-ups, texts, or emails
- Do not download software at the request of unknown individuals who contact you
- Do not allow unknown individuals access to your computer, remotely or in person
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