Gold purchases in the United States are on the rise. In this financial climate, gold and silver are the obvious choices. Scammers are looking to exploit the increased interest in precious metals.
Counterfeit gold bars or coins can be convincing at first glance but may turn out to be worthless.
Here is how the scammers usually operate:
Scammers create fake gold products using various methods including mixing a precious metal with an inexpensive metal. For example, tungsten is a relatively cheap metal that has almost the exact same density as gold. Right now, tungsten is about $300 per metric ton. Right now, gold is about $2,200 an ounce. However, gold is the most ductile metal and can be stretched extremely thin. Therefore tungsten that is stamped like a coin, with a thin layer of gold over it, which is infinitely cheaper to produce than a high-purity coin. They make their scams more believable by replicating popular designs of gold and silver eagles.
Here is how they circulate their fake products:
Once the counterfeit gold products are produced, scammers circulate them through various channels. They may sell them online through fake websites, auction sites, or online marketplaces like eBay. A friend of mine bought Silver Eagles from an ad on Facebook. He was excited about the price. And of course, once he received them in the mail, the price was too good to be true. Those coins were more fake than a $30 bill.
Fake coins can be anywhere. That’s why the only way to make sure is to test them yourself with a verifier or have a professional check them for you. Fake gold or silver scams may operate through brick-and-mortar stores and keep in mind that they can even buy ads on social media. Scammers can deceive brick-and-mortar dealers, which could lead to a raw deal for their customers.
Before you buy from a company, take the following steps:
- Check to see if the seller has a website. If they don’t, this means that you are buying from an individual or an amateur. Individuals and amateurs will increase your chances of risk.
- Do they offer you a return policy in print that covers the specific product that you want to buy? If it is not in print, you are asking for a headache.
- Can you find the listing for their specific company on Google Business? Do they list an email address and phone number for their company? If they are hard to talk with now, they’ll be much harder to reach if you have an issue.
The information that you gain from the previous 3 steps will tell you if you need to move forward with the dealer in question.
Last we’ll address the most important step of testing your metals.
Checking the purity of the product:
There are several methods to verify the authenticity of gold, including conducting physical tests such as checking weight, dimensions, and sound, as well as using specialized equipment like X-ray fluorescence, electromagnetic testers, or ultrasonic testers.
You can always take your metals to a local dealer for a test. Give them a call first.
Ultimately your best option is to test them yourself. At The Gold Marketplace, we suggest to our clients the Sigma Analytics Verifier, which is mobile and reliable. This verifier uses electromagnetic waves to penetrate the coin or bar. You don’t need to remove the protective plastic cases or plastic numismatic slabs. This verifier is an effective and inexpensive tool that enables you to test the purity of your metals on your own.