Gold IRA Scams
I spent time evaluating and finding reputable gold IRA companies that you can rely on and if you’re interested in learning about all the gold IRA lies that gold dealers tell, you should go get this report. This is the same information that Joe Montana’s financial team used to help him make the right gold IRA investment decision.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Have you ever been victim of a scam or had someone try and steal something from you through a phishing email or physically mail you something asking for money?
As an investor, it’s even more important to be paranoid about companies that could take your money because everyone is always trying to find a hack or cheat their way to quick money.
Augusta Precious Metals
- Money magazine’s ‘Best Overall’ Gold IRA Company in 2022
- Joe Montana’s financial team chose Augusta Precious Metals
- Investopedia’s ‘Most Transparent’ Gold IRA Company in 2022
The main reasons I love Augusta Precious Metals are because of the following reasons:
- Money magazine’s “Best Overall” Gold IRA Company in 2022
- Investopedia’s “Most Transparent” Gold IRA Company in 2022
- A+ BBB Rating, AAA Rating from Business Consumer Alliance
- Free guides on how to avoid gimmicks & high-pressure tactics used by gold IRA companies
- 1000s of 5-star ratings — 100s of excellent consumer reviews everywhere
- Zero fees for up to 10 years — every customer qualifies
- Quarterback Joe Montana and his financial team chose Augusta over others
If you want to buy gold or silver and hold it in your precious metals IRA – you can do it but it must be done the right way.
There are companies that handle this and other retirement accounts regularly that you should consider taking a look at.
The IRS has placed quite a few rules around what you can and cannot have in your IRA when it comes to gold and other precious metals. I would make sure you clearly understand what rare coins, bullion coins or any other type of precious metals you could have in your gold IRA account.
My understanding is that the rules set are
- Gold must be 99.5% pure, silver must be 99.9% pure, and platinum and palladium must both be 99.95% pure.
- Bars, rounds and coins must be produced by a refiner, assayer or manufacturer that is accredited/certified by NYMEX, COMEX, NYSE/Liffe, LME, LBMA, LPPM, TOCOM, ISO 9000, or national government mint and meeting minimum fineness requirements.
- Proof coins must be encapsulated in complete, original mint packaging, in excellent condition, and include the certificate of authenticity.
- Small bullion bars (other than 400-ounce gold, 100-ounce gold, 1000-ounce silver; 50-ounce platinum and 100-ounce palladium bars) must be manufactured to exact weight specifications.
- Non-proof (bullion) coins must be in brilliant uncirculated condition and free from damage.
The exception they have made is the following
Exception. Your IRA can invest in one, one-half, one-quarter, or one-tenth ounce U.S. gold coins, or one-ounce silver coins minted by the Treasury Department. It can also invest in certain platinum coins and certain gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion.
Ponzi-like scams
There are always going to be people out there trying to take your money and using physical gold, silver coins or acting as a gold dealer can lead you down a path you may not want to go.
Northwest Territorial Mint was a ponzi scheme where the former CEO was convicted of 14 crimes and taking 2500 customers and $25 million of their money. Some of these lies and convictions were for lying about the shipping times and even opening their business into other states.
The money they got from new customers was used to pay off other customers so it was exactly what you’d describe as a ponzi scheme.
The Attorney General, Benjamin Diggs told the jury that it was a house of cards that was bound to fall down and it sure did after they got caught in the act with their gold investing methods (or lack there of).
In another similar case, AG Ken Paxton of Texas sued metals.com, Chase Metal, Barrick Capital and others because they were defrauding elderly people across the United States. They racked up over $185 Million in this fraud case.
Here’s the full 106 page document for you to read that basically says they were taking money from the elderly and representing something to make them a lot of money in their investment portfolio but their retirement savings went the opposite direction.
The summary of this story is that these companies were using fear tactics to have seniors between the ages of 60-90 years old for the following reasons:
- Misrepresenting that the United States government was going to take Qualified Retirement Savings funds in a “Bail-in” to help banks and government programs
- Misrepresenting that IRA custodians are in financial trouble and are likely to collapse
- Misrepresenting that it is unclear who actually owns the underlying securities in IRA accounts
- Misrepresenting that the government could seize funds held in Qualified Retirement Savings but could not seize Precious Metals Bullion held in SDIRAs (SDIRA = Self Directed IRA)
They convinced them to buy over priced bullion in their accounts and it became their IRA investments. This was used by these dealers and clearly was not one of the common scams you might see but it sure did work.
Fear tactics seem to be one of them many gold IRA scams I’ve seen and will continue to see until it becomes regulated.
What to Learn From This
If something doesn’t right – report it and walk away. There are good gold IRA dealers out there.
The best thing to do is ask for a refund early and move your investment to something else. The last thing you want is to be the last person that’s got their cash stuck and having too many risks involved.
Gold IRA storage scams
Are you seeing Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaints against the gold IRA company you’re working with?
There are precious metals investment scams happening to gold investors whether it’s straight up buying gold, fake coins, shaved coins or just someone telling you you’ll get $10,000-$15,000 of coins for setting up a gold IRA. You want to be careful with the brands you work with and have proof the gold you’re putting your real money into is actually real.
It’s also important that if you’re going to have a home storage IRA that you understand the rules of that too. There is a couple who was storing gold in their home and it looks like they own the IRS up to $300,000 for storing it in their home.
The benefits of gold storage at home might seem good on the surface but it’s really important that you get the education you need to understand what can and cannot be done. You have to have your gold stored at a qualified storage firm and not just a safe deposit box at your house. Make sure that you have checked with all the right people in your financial network about the rules around this before storing gold bullion at your home and thinking that if it’s part of your 401K you’ll be ok.
Conclusion
As an investor, you always need to be on the lookout for something that doesn’t look right. If your instincts have always led you down the right path, it’s important to follow your gut. It’s also important to think about how to invest in a gold IRA so make sure you look at a few articles on that too.
The last thing you want to do is be the last money into a ponzi scheme or think that your investments are ok come to find out that your in some kind of rare coin valuation scams or a gold IRA scam. Stay alert!
Andrew's Pick
Augusta Precious Metals is the most trusted gold IRA company