SILVER SPRING, Md. — An epidemic of shocking financial crimes targeting seniors is plaguing Montgomery County, according to the state’s attorney there. Prosecutor John McCarthy met with seniors at Leisure World in Silver Spring Thursday after one resident lost nearly $900,000 in what’s called the 'Gold Bar Scam'.
McCarthy said despite the arrest of two individuals in separate Gold Bar Scam cases, the calls are continuing. Investigators believe that means numerous organizations, likely based overseas, are pursuing the same scam.
How the scam works:
McCarthy warned residents that the Gold Bar Scam starts with a phone call from someone claiming to be a federal agent alerting the call recipient to a case of identity theft. The scammer, frequently working with other characters on the phone posing as representatives of multiple agencies, then claims the only way for a targeted person to protect their money is to convert it to gold and hand it over to a U.S. Treasury agent while a team of government officials works to issue the victim a new Social Security number.
The entire scenario is fake. But more than a dozen Montgomery County residents have been victimized. In each case, they converted their assets to gold and then met with a person posing as a federal agent and handed the precious metal over.
One suspect was arrested in a sting after attempting to complete a third transaction with a victim, but the targeted person had already lost hundreds of thousands in previous meetings.
"The possibility of you getting your money back is very small," McCarthy told seniors.
Top Tip to avoid scams
McCarthy begged seniors to use caller ID and never pick up a call or respond to a text from an unknown number.
“The government does not communicate with you by text message or phone calls, it's just not the way they do it," McCarthy said.
"Presumptively, if you're getting a text message where somebody says, I'm from the federal government or I'm with the IRS, well, firstly, you violated the rule. You should have never picked up the phone," he added. "If you didn't pick up the phone, you wouldn't be engaged in the conversation that lets them begin the spiel."
McCarthy also warned seniors never to respond to individuals urging them to act immediately, and never make financial decisions such as purchasing gold bars without at least two trusted advisors for oversight.
He noted a single family member is most likely to commit a financial crime.
"Never have one child do it alone to look at the finances,' McCarthy warned. "Never have one lawyer. control all your finances. Don't allow a single lawyer or a single advisor. There should always be as a minimum when it comes to your finances two people that have access to your financial records, so you have somebody checking the other person.
McCarthy said only a tiny percentage of people who are victims ever report they have been scammed or taken advantage of.
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