Richmond RCMP are warning people of the re-emergence of a gold scam in the community.
The police detachment says fraudsters are approaching people with fake gold jewelry and preying on their emotions to convince them to buy it on the spot. In some cases, the criminals have had young children with them and told victims that they need the money to feed their family.
In a different version of the scam, fraudsters have placed the fake gold jewelry on a victim to show them how it looks and then used a sleight of hand to steal the victim’s own jewelry that they were already wearing, RCMP say.
The Richmond detachment says it’s investigated four cases of the scam, so far.
It’s warning people to never go to an ATM or bank with a stranger trying to sell them something. Instead, they should walk away when it is safe to do so and report the incident to police, RCMP say.
“This is an example of ‘If it seems too good to be true, it definitely is.’ We can’t stress enough if someone approaches you on the street offering to sell you gold or jewelry, regardless of their explanation, say no and walk away,” Corp. Adriana O’Malley said in a news release Saturday (April 13).
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