This Alert accurately catalogues the spectrum of tactics coin dealer scammers use to gain the trust of and then defraud unsuspecting consumers—especially elderly customers:

These fraudsters may rely upon aggressive marketing tactics, flashy websites, or a sense of urgency to convince victims to send the dealer thousands of dollars for coins. In some cases, the fraudster may claim to have access to “special deals” or “once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunities,” which they use to convince their victims to act immediately. In other cases, the scammer may try to create a heightened sense of fear about the economy or the stock market. Unscrupulous coin dealers that target senior citizens may even try to invoke fear about the potential of another Depression or market crash.

The Minnesota Alert specifically highlights three (3) typical coin fraud schemes: (1) Non-delivery Scams; (2) Valuation Scams; and (3) Coin Dealers and Investment Advice.

The “Non-Delivery Scam” involves a coin dealer working “to build a potential victim’s trust and get them to send in payment for a promised future delivery of coins, but then fail[ing] to actually deliver the product.

This primitive type of scam is effectively nothing but high-tech theft.

The “Valuation Scam” involves a coin dealer “delivering coins whose value is significantly less than what the dealer represented. Coin dealers may convince buyers to either purchase coins at rates with extremely high mark-ups, or convince them to trade in their own coins for what they are falsely led to believe are coins of a similar value.”

This is the most elementary (and common) coin fraud scheme.

A more sophisticated precious metal scam involves coin dealers presenting themselves as “investment advisors” or “numismatic experts” who:

“[T]ry to convince potential buyers to cash in their stocks, bonds, or other investments in order to purchase gold or other precious metal coins. Fraudulent coins dealers use a combination of fear, intimidation, and technical jargon to get people to make an “investment” in gold or collectable coins.

The Minnesota Attorney General knows what he is talking about. We have multiple elderly clients who were conned into cashing out their IRAs and conventional retirement savings and even “advised” to take out mortgages on their houses to “invest” in physical precious metal coins only to realize the loss of most or all of their life savings to these charlatans. Don’t let this happen to you.

If you believe that you may have been the victim of coin fraud, there is more information available at the Coin Fraud Lawyers website (www.coinfraud.com). Or call 409-880-9714 right now to speak to a coin fraud lawyer for a free consultation.