‘These people have stolen thousands of dollars.’ Local shop warns of fake gold jewelry scam.
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IDAHO FALLS — A local store is hoping to make people aware of a scam involving trading cash for gold jewelry that’s actually fake.
A sales associate from Infinity Coins in Idaho Falls told EastIdahoNews.com that there have been fake gold necklaces or chains along with rings coming into their shop. Customers believe the jewelry is real but it’s not.
“They are stamped 18k. These gold chains should honestly weigh probably close to 80-100 grams apiece maybe and they are only weighing out to 20 grams. They are made out of brass. They are not even gold. There’s no gold content in them,” said James Ross who works at Infinity Coins.
Ross said he has dealt with at least 50 to 60 customers that have been scammed by what appears to be by the same people.
“(Customers have told me) a gentleman comes up to you and says, ‘Excuse me I am sorry to bother you, I’ve lost my wallet and my debit card and my money is in there’ and then he’ll take what appears to be a gold ring off his finger and say, ‘I’ve got this gold ring here it’s real good quality, it’s 18k, I’ll sell it to you for $50, I just need gas money to get my family home to Georgia,’” Ross said.
He said the incidents have been happening to a wide variety of people, at a variety of places. For example, he said a customer that came into Infinity Coins said they were out jogging on John Adams in Idaho Falls and that’s when they were approached.
Ross said the scam has been happening for at least the past month and has been happening in places like Blackfoot, Pocatello, and Rexburg.
He told EastIdahoNews.com customers have described the man as having black hair and is middle eastern. He is with a female who has dark hair and a few kids are with them. They drive a vehicle that has Georgia plates.
Idaho Falls Police spokeswoman Jessica Clements told EastIdahoNews.com that police did respond to Infinity Coins on Saturday and took a report from a customer who described being scammed. In the report, Clements said the victim had purchased “fake” gold jewelry from a couple in a parking lot who had asked for gas money. They were “pushy” and said they were “out of gas.”
Clements encourages anyone to file a detailed report online and said to describe what specifically happened, including descriptions of the people involved that are asking for money.
Ross just hopes that nobody else will fall victim to the scam.
“I would like people to know that if they are trying to buy gold jewelry or even silver jewelry and if they are not sure about it and it’s an untrustworthy source that’s not a jewelry store, please just bring it into Infinity Coins,” Ross said. “We will test it for you just to make sure that you are not getting scammed or ripped off because, at this point, these people have stolen thousands of dollars from people.”
