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Another jewelry store owner has prevented a senior citizen from being robbed of her life savings through what has become an extremely common “gold scam.”
The ruse involves scammers who pose as people who work for the U.S. government or a bank, and convince older people that they need to take their money and convert it into gold, which is then handed off to one of their accomplices.
In this case, Josh VanderWerf, owner of Cedar Springs Coins and Jewelry in Cedar Springs, Mich., told local station WOOD that when an elderly woman came in asking for $385,000 in gold, his alarm bells immediately went off.
“She didn’t ask many questions and didn’t know what she wanted,” said VanderWerf. And when he started asking her questions, “She just started crying. She was afraid for herself and her family.”
The jeweler called the FBI, who eventually arrested Sai K. Puttha, 25, charging him with two felonies connected to the case.
VanderWerf is at least the third jeweler to have alerted authorities about this all-too-common scam. Yianni Roupas, owner of Costa’s Fine Jewelry and Gold in Waukesha, Wis., also smelled a rat when an older woman came into his store wanting to buy a large amount of gold; so did another Michigan jeweler, Grand Rapids Coins in Rockford, Mich.
Scott Guginsky, executive vice president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, has told The Jewelry Wire that preventing these scams is not only the right thing to do, it can prevent the jeweler from ending up “in the middle of a criminal prosecution or investigation.
“You don’t want to bring criminal elements into your business,” he said. “You are opening yourself up to bad actors.”
Construction workers uncover $10 million in gold
Workers renovating a building in Dendermonde, Belgium, got the surprise of their lives when they happened upon a chest full of gold ingots and coins, worth an estimated $10 million.
“Surprise and amazement were the first reactions,” Geert Hillaert, an employee of the building under construction, told Belgium’s VRT NWS. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The Antwerp public prosecutor told VRT that it is still investigating how the gold got there.
“For all we know, this discovery is the result of some kind of fraudulent activity, and the gold has been hidden there,” Hillaert said.
The Dendermonde police department wrote on Facebook that the gold is now “safely stored in a high-security vault” and warned “prospectors” hoping to find more that the site has been thoroughly searched.
It also praised the workers for notifying the police about what they found: “In such cases, silence is silver and speaking out is gold.”
Obituary: Vasant Mehta
Vasant Mehta, the former chair of the Gem and Jewellry Export Promotional Council, who was also active in the World Diamond Council and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, has died, according to a statement from CIBJO. He was 81.
Jewelry store ad of the week: Jared Jewelers
Jared is currently running a campaign called “Dear Summer, From Jared.” As this has been a particularly hot summer here in New York City, I found this ad refreshing:
Your view on … AI
So Very Jaded wrote on Saturday’s long read on AI and jewelry:
Thank you for pointing out the attributes of AI, because it is here to stay. Use it for what it’s good at. And then you can have more time to focus on human connections.
Last week’s most-clicked links
Here are the links Jewelry Wire readers clicked the most last week:
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The jewelry ad of the week: ‘Antara’ from Kalyan Jewellers (YouTube)
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CVD synthetic fashioned to look like rough natural diamond (Gems & Gemology)
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Jewelers break down Madison Beer’s cushion-cut engagement ring, possibly worth over $1 million (Today)
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How social media, value, and identity are shaping Gen Z shopping (Retail Brew)
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High jewelry’s changing landscape of independents and innovations (WWD)
Stat of the day
$750 billion
—The amount of “untapped wealth” sitting in U.S. jewelry drawers, according to online jewelry buyer Unvault. That works out to $5,700 per household.
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This week’s jewelry links cover Chrono24, Omega, Rolex, British Academy of Jewellery, Maison Miru, Titan Company, the Kimberley Process, the Qatar Diamond Exchange, Louis Liebenberg, The Retail Smiths, Paul Zimnisky, Avi Krawitz, Cult Carat, Prince William, and, of course, Taylor Swift
