Image Credit: CFJC Today

By James Peters

Scammers at Work

Fake gold scam reported in Kamloops, on the rise in Southern Interior

Jul 16, 2020 | 11:20 AM

KELOWNA — RCMP in the Southern Interior have put out a warning about a scam that targets people with a ‘natural inclination to want to help.’

Termed the ‘fake gold scam’, the grift involves selling or offering gold jewelry to a person who later discovers the gold is not real and essentially worthless.

According to a news release from RCMP Southeast District spokesman Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, instances of the scam are on the increase.

O’Donaghey says crime analysts found 61 reports of the scam in the region between April and December of 2019. While there was a lull during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, O’Donaghey says reports have picked up in June and July, including in Kamloops.

O’Donaghey says oftentimes, the scammer will approach someone in a mall parking lot or gas station with a story about trying to pay for hospital bills or get out of an abusive relationship.

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RCMP say the scammers have been both male and female, are often of South Asian or Middle Eastern ethnicity and sometimes claim to be from either Dubai or Saudi Arabia. The culprits often travel in rental vehicles, sometimes with small children.

O’Donaghey says people who fall for these tactics can often be embarrassed and decide against reporting it to police, but investigators still want to hear from them.