SCAMS: Latest Scams!

Gold prices are at an all-time high because of rising inflation and increasing economic and political instability. While investors are buying gold as a safe-haven asset, scammers are stealing it from them and using couriers to pick up the precious metal.

Amid the surging value of gold, grifters have staged elaborate schemes that netted them about $126 million in 2024, according to the FBI. The gold bar courier scam is so massive that ABC News, WABC-TV in New York City, and WLS-TV in Chicago teamed up to investigate the fraud.

“I have never seen a scam to this magnitude, as intricate and as detailed as this, that can target so many individuals across the entire United States,” Sean Petty, a detective with the Montgomery County Police Department who has investigated multiple gold bar scam cases in Maryland, told ABC News.

Due to gold’s current popularity, law enforcement officials are warning the public, particularly older adults, to be cautious of anyone suggesting they buy gold bars and then hand them over to strangers for safekeeping.

Gold grifters find their victims in various ways. Kris Owen, for instance, told the media that in 2023, he received a pop-up message on his computer stating that his personal information had been compromised and that he was instructed to call a specific phone number. The 79-year-old widower and Vietnam veteran said he called the number and spoke with someone claiming to be an FBI agent.

Owen told ABC News that the individual told him he would “safeguard his money” and then told him to convert some of his savings into gold bars. After communicating with the con artist for weeks and receiving a letter from what he thought was the FBI, Owen said he bought $80,000 worth of gold bars.

“They told me to wrap it in a box…with Christmas wrap paper,” Owen told ABC News.

Owen said he was told to take his gold to a grocery store parking lot near his house, where a federal agent would pick it up and bring it to a secure location to safeguard it. A car pulled up beside Owen, and he placed the gold in the back seat before the driver sped away.

Emboldened by their success, the scammers contacted him again, wanting more money. This time, Owen called the police. The FBI and a local Indiana police department set up a sting operation and were able to apprehend the courier who drove away with $50,000 of fake money that Owen had placed in the car’s back seat. The courier was arrested and charged with federal crimes but later fled the country.

One suspected courier, who was not connected to Owen’s case and faces charges in two states for his alleged involvement in gold bar schemes, told ABC News that he was hired by someone from India and was paid between $800 and $4,000 to pick up packages, some of which contained gold bars.

Chris Delzotto, section chief of the Financial Crimes Unit for the FBI, told ABC News that the FBI is investigating call centers in India linked to the scam.

As law enforcement officials travel to senior communities to raise awareness about the scam, Delzotto advises people to be cautious of messages they receive on their computers.

“Never click on sites that you’re not familiar with,” Delzotto told the media outlet. “We use the phrase ‘take a beat’ here. Step back. Consult with a trusted family member or friend. See if it makes sense before you engage.”

Title Pirate Scams On The Rise

The FBI and real estate experts want property owners and potential buyers to beware of “title pirates”—scammers who fraudulently obtain or create what appears to be legal ownership of property titles. The con artists attempt to sell property to unsuspecting buyers, while legitimate property owners are typically unaware of the fraud.

Title fraud is on the rise, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report. The report showed that in 2023, the federal agency received about 900,000 complaints of real estate-related crime, of which more than 9,500 were for title fraud.
Real estate experts believe title pirates are successful because they have easy access to information about real estate transactions, which are found in public records.

David Zawadzki, executive vice president of business development at Chicago-based Proper Title, cites the FBI report in his efforts to raise public awareness of title schemes. Zawadzki said that title scams are becoming more sophisticated because con artists are using AI (artificial intelligence) to produce fake documents that look authentic.

“It takes an extremely vigilant title insurer that stays educated on the latest techniques to spot these scammers,” Zawadzki said in an interview with House Beautiful.

Kevin Tacher, founder and CEO of Independence Title in Florida, works with the FBI and the state attorney to catch title thieves. In a 2018 sting operation, Tacher focused on a title thief who not only forged a warranty deed but also posed as the seller of a property. Tacher noticed right away that the paperwork was off after seeing a mortgage that had been paid off six years before it was recorded with the county clerk. In addition, the fraudster refused to connect Tacher with the actual homeowner whom he claimed to be representing.

Katie Hanner, a licensed realtor and broker-owner of Thrive Realty in Leander, Texas, said someone sent her an email asking if she could put up a piece of vacant land for sale. At first, Hanner said there was “nothing that seemed wildly unusual,” including the selling price and the seller contacting her via email. However, Hanner believed something was off because the seller never wanted to meet in person or take a phone call.

So, she drove to the property and discovered that the land was next to other vacant lots owned by the same person. Hanner was able to locate the legitimate owner, who was unaware of the situation and had no intention of selling the property.

According to Jennifer Haskins, an attorney at McCarthy Law in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, there are some red flags that property owners and real estate professionals can look for:

Hanner believes the growing use of digital platforms in real estate is causing concern about title pirates. Nonetheless, there are ways to stop the scams, such as verifying identities, involving trusted title companies that know what to look for, and cross-checking seller details, Hanner said.

“We’ve got to slow down just enough to ask the questions scammers don’t want us to ask,” Hanner said. “And if a seller pushes back—if they refuse to meet, refuse to verify, refuse to follow standard procedures—that’s not just a red flag; that’s a deal-breaker.”

Source Links:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/gold-grifters-inside-growing-scam-couriers-pick-gold/story?id=119147460
https://www.yahoo.com/news/beware-title-pirates-real-estate-204700156.html