It started with a phone call from a woman. My manager at the time, answered the call. Based on what I was overhearing, I could tell something was wrong. The manger, at one point, said to the woman “I think you need to talk to the owner. Tell him everything you told me.” When the owner started talking to the woman it took about one minute before I could tell it must be some type of scam. The owner was saying things like “Oh no. How much have you given them? Ma’am, please don’t give them any more money. Please, I want you to contact your local police and tell them exactly what you told me. Don’t give them more money.” When the owner ended the call, I was ALL EARS. My manager and the owner explained the woman is a victim of a scam.

The victim was initially contacted by someone claiming to be “in charge” of a will and looking for a person who’s name is in the will. Surprise, surprise, the victim’s name just happens to match the name in the will. As a gentle reminder, some of the most common scams appeal to peoples greed, ignorance, or vanity. This one appeals to greed and ignorance. I call this a Dispensing the Will scam.

In the will, this victim was supposed to inherit over 20 kilograms of gold from a person they don’t actually know. For the imperial measurement system users (the U.S.A., Liberia, and Myanmar), 20 kilograms equals 44 pounds. Time for some logic and mathing. Yaaay, more math!. If a person tells you that your name is in a will inheriting a large amount of any precious metal or any high value thing, stop and think first. Or stop all communication with people alleging your name is in a will of a stranger. The more aware you are of your own greed and ignorance, the easier it is to thwart scammers.

Here’s where being suspicious enough to ask lots of questions helps you avoid scams. How likely is it your name is in the will of a stranger? Even if you know the person, how likely is it they leave you valuable things? Is the person “dispensing the will” real? Is the amount you’re allegedly inheriting sound absurd? Are the precious metals fake? The victim in this case accepted the premise without asking enough good questions. I suspect the victim fell for this scam out of greed and ignorance. She heard “inherit 27 kgs of gold” and got greedy. Greed overrides a person’s logic.

The scam, as I understand it, involved the victim paying “storage fees” each month. The fees were paying to store and protect 20 kilograms of gold. The victim never saw any gold in person, but paid storage fees each month. The total amount paid by the victim is unknown because they didn’t reveal it. By the time a person realizes they are a victim of a scam, they have spent an embarrassing amount of money. Like a gambler, scam victims might be ashamed at the amount of money they lost. A fee of around $2000 was mentioned by the victim because that’s what she was going to pay before she called us. It shows you scams can take many forms.

I didn’t work long enough as a precious metals buyer to learn more about this woman’s experience. I don’t know if she actually contacted police or stopped paying the “storage fees.” However, this scam is a good learning experience. A math nerd may have seen through the scam by doing the math or they’d fall victim too. If the victim had “done the math” they could have realized 27 kilograms is an unreasonably absurd amount. It’s so absurd it’s laughable.

Hypothetically, the gold bars are real and pure. Twenty kilograms is 20,000 grams. That’s a lot. It’s a suspicious amount. It’s so much it’s a red flag on its own. If the exact weight of one troy ounce of gold is 31.1034768 grams then 20,000 grams of gold is equal to 643 troy ounces of gold. That’s a lot. If the market price for one troy ounce is, let’s say today’s value is $1921, then the math is easy, 643 x $1921 = $1,235,203. That’s a hard-to-resist amount of money. If a stranger tells you your name is in a will inheriting over $1 million in gold bars of someone you don’t know… THAT’S SCAM. It doesn’t have to be about gold because anything people associate with high value can be used in a scam. In this case the victim was conned into paying monthly “storage fees” for 20 Kgs of gold bars.

TL;DR version is scams can take many different forms like inheritance and storage fees. Be aware and wary of your own greed and ignorance. Don’t believe your name is in a stranger’s will inheriting valuables. Do the math. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.