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Explore the latest happenings at Kirtland CU and learn about important topics from around the financial world. Here’s your insight! To learn about retirements, investments and financial planning, check out Invested now.

All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Don’t Fall for Gold Investment Scams

By K-Staff

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Concerns about the economy often drive people to invest in assets like precious metals – and scammers have taken notice. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said that “gold courier” scams have resulted in over $262 million in claimed losses nationwide between January and October 2025, and losses are climbing as schemes become increasingly more complex.

What is a gold investment scam?

A gold investment scam is a fraudulent scheme perpetuated by fraudsters and unprofessional dealers that uses both the secure reputation of precious metals like gold and fear about the state of the economy to exploit victims’ desire for financial security.

Fraudsters convince people to buy counterfeit, low-value, or non-existent gold products, taking their hard-earned money and leaving victims with worthless, low-liquidity assets.

Types of Gold Investment Scams

  • Gold IRA Scams: Gold IRA companies and precious metals dealers offer collectible or rare coins at drastically inflated costs (often at premiums up to 200% of the coin’s actual price), promoting them as incredible investment opportunities. Many of these coins aren’t approved by the IRS for IRA inclusion, and dealers don’t generally purchase the coins back above their spot price, meaning investors lose the premiums that were paid.
  • Counterfeit Products: Fraudsters sell gold-plated or tungsten-filled bars and coins made to look like the genuine article. These often come with forged certificates of authenticity and realistic packaging to deceive buyers.
  • Courier Scams: Scammers may pose as authority figures like government agents or bank officials, claiming your assets are compromised and urging you to buy gold bars for safekeeping. A fake courier is then sent to your home to collect the metals.
  • Online Dealer / Pig Butchering Fraud: Scammers reach out with fake websites, social media profiles, and “wrong number” text messages attempting to lure victims with promises of cryptocurrency or raw gold mining investment opportunities.

Things to Look For (Red Flags)

Gold investment scams have many of the hallmarks of other financial-based scams:

  • Guaranteed Returns: Commodity markets fluctuate daily, but scammers will promise risk-free, guaranteed profits with their schemes. All investments come with risk, and none are guaranteed to return profits – any that do make this promise should be treated as suspect.
  • High-Pressure Sales Tactics: If there are any claims that you need to act immediately on an opportunity or risk missing out because of a market crash or limited supplies, this is a classic scam tactic. Don’t get caught up in their attempts to create a sense of urgency – be calm and deliberate.
  • Deceptive Financing: Beware of companies offering to let you buy gold on leverage or credit while charging monthly fees to store gold that likely does not exist.
  • Unsolicited Communications: Legitimate brokers aren’t going to cold call you with promises of life-changing wealth or threats of compromised assets that require protection – if you’re getting any call, text, or email you aren’t expecting, check their claims through a verified channel – not the phone number or email address that is provided in the unsolicited communication.

How to Avoid Being Impacted

  • Talk to us first. Before you make a large withdrawal or wire transfer for an investment, speak with a Kirtland CU representative. We can help you evaluate the legitimacy of the investment opportunity.
  • Verify the seller. Check the prospective broker’s background using free, official tools like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CTFC) SmartCheck or FINRA’s Broker Check. Checking with the Better Business Bureau and verifying a broker’s physical address is also a good idea.
  • Don’t keep secrets. If a broker insists on secrecy as a condition of completing a transaction – don’t tell your family or your financial institution – it’s a scam.

What To Do If You Are Impacted

  • Notify the credit union immediately. Call us at (800) 880-5328 and provide all information relevant to the case. Our fraud prevention team can review your accounts and work to halt pending transfers to mitigate any potential losses, but only if you reach out as quickly as possible. Every minute delayed is a minute scammers can use to steal your savings.
  • Cease all contact with the scammer. Block any telephone numbers, email addresses, and social media accounts that the scammer used to reach you, and ignore any demands for additional fees to recover your money.
  • Report the crime with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.

Sources:

Gold scams surging nationwide, costing victims hundreds of millions; https://www.wcvb.com/article/gold-scams-surging-nationwide-costing-victims-hundreds-of-millions/70316159

Don’t Let Precious Metal Scams Fool You; https://www.fmfcu.org/security-center/article/dont-let-precious-metal-scams-fool-you/

Common Gold IRA Scams and How To Avoid Them; https://clutejournals.com/article/how-to-avoid-gold-ira-scams/

Real government agents aren’t asking you to buy and deliver gold bars; https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/07/real-government-agents-arent-asking-you-buy-deliver-gold-bars

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