Lou Chorney sensed something was not quite right in the urgency in an older woman’s voice. She was insisting on buying almost half a million dollars in gold bars.Chorney, a gold dealer in Boston for decades, issued his standard recommendation to grab coins instead of bars.But the woman would not hear it and also would not entertain his suggestion that she put the gold in a safe deposit box.”She waffled a little bit that it would be in a safe place,” he said.The Boston office of the FBI had recently warned Chorney and other gold dealers in the area about a relatively new version of a scam targeting older adults, in which the scammer convinces the victim they must pay large sums of money, or, in this case, gold.Chorney remembered the warning, and while waiting for the gold to arrive, he called the FBI. He says agents stepped in just before the older woman was going to take an Uber hired by a scammer to pick up the $460,000 in gold bars and then deliver it to someone in the scheme.Gold bars are attractive to scammers because they are an easy way for them to move money, according to James Crowley, assistant special agent in charge of the Boston FBI.Crowley said the FBI has seen a spike in what they call “gold bar courier scams,” in which people are defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, often their life savings, by couriers who pick up gold bars and cash from their victims. According to the FBI, some scammers boost their credibility with victims by giving them a code, password and serial number to confirm with the courier involved. The drivers are sometimes, but not always, in on the fraud.”They put a tremendous pressure to act quickly before the person has a chance to call a loved one, call a family member,” Crowley said. “Once that money goes to the courier, once the gold bars are turned over or that bulk cash, that money is gone and the person will never see it again.”The losses are huge. From 2023 to May 2025, the FBI Boston documented 103 cases in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island involving a courier being used to pick up cash or gold bars from victims. The losses in these cases totaled $26,024,691. In Massachusetts alone, 59 victims lost $18,642,975, according to the FBI.Nationwide, during the same period of time, the FBI documented at least 1,737 instances of a courier being used to pick up bulk cash or gold bars, with financial losses totaling approximately $186,263,191.Thanks to Chorney, his customer was not one of them.”This woman is a very nice woman. She’s smart, but it happened where she was being defrauded, and I’m just extremely gratified that I could help,” he said.The FBI has identified three main types of scams involving the gold bar and cash courier schemes: grandparent scams, government impersonation and tech support scams. Grandparent scams involve criminals posing as a grandchild, relative or lawyer in distress, claiming a family member is in legal or medical trouble and needs money or gold immediately. Government impersonation scams involve someone posing as a member of government or law enforcement threatening to arrest someone because their identification was found in a package containing drugs seized by the government. The victim is told that, in order to protect their identity, they must liquidate their funds into cash, gold or other precious metals to be put into a “government-owned” bank account.Tech support scams involve a victim receiving an alert on their computer telling them to call a help desk line to resolve an issue that is not real. The “help desk” inspects the computer and claims to find illegal purchases, like child sexual abuse images. The scammer transfers the victim to others in the scheme who are impersonating government officials. The victim is ultimately told they must put their money in a Department of Justice escrow or bank account.Crowley said the U.S. government will never ask you to purchase gold or other precious metals.The FBI says you can protect yourself and your loved ones by:Limiting what you post onlineNot agreeing to meet strangers to deliver cash or precious metalsNot clicking on unsolicited pop-ups, links, or attachments from unknown or spoofed sendersNot calling unknown telephone numbers from pop-ups, texts or emailsNot downloading software from unknown individuals or give them access to your computer.The FBI is urging anyone who has been a target of fraud or attempted fraud to report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Be sure to include as much information about the transaction as possible.
Lou Chorney sensed something was not quite right in the urgency in an older woman’s voice. She was insisting on buying almost half a million dollars in gold bars.
Chorney, a gold dealer in Boston for decades, issued his standard recommendation to grab coins instead of bars.
But the woman would not hear it and also would not entertain his suggestion that she put the gold in a safe deposit box.
“She waffled a little bit that it would be in a safe place,” he said.
The Boston office of the FBI had recently warned Chorney and other gold dealers in the area about a relatively new version of a scam targeting older adults, in which the scammer convinces the victim they must pay large sums of money, or, in this case, gold.
Chorney remembered the warning, and while waiting for the gold to arrive, he called the FBI. He says agents stepped in just before the older woman was going to take an Uber hired by a scammer to pick up the $460,000 in gold bars and then deliver it to someone in the scheme.
Gold bars are attractive to scammers because they are an easy way for them to move money, according to James Crowley, assistant special agent in charge of the Boston FBI.
Crowley said the FBI has seen a spike in what they call “gold bar courier scams,” in which people are defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, often their life savings, by couriers who pick up gold bars and cash from their victims.
According to the FBI, some scammers boost their credibility with victims by giving them a code, password and serial number to confirm with the courier involved. The drivers are sometimes, but not always, in on the fraud.
“They put a tremendous pressure to act quickly before the person has a chance to call a loved one, call a family member,” Crowley said. “Once that money goes to the courier, once the gold bars are turned over or that bulk cash, that money is gone and the person will never see it again.”
The losses are huge. From 2023 to May 2025, the FBI Boston documented 103 cases in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island involving a courier being used to pick up cash or gold bars from victims. The losses in these cases totaled $26,024,691. In Massachusetts alone, 59 victims lost $18,642,975, according to the FBI.
Nationwide, during the same period of time, the FBI documented at least 1,737 instances of a courier being used to pick up bulk cash or gold bars, with financial losses totaling approximately $186,263,191.
Thanks to Chorney, his customer was not one of them.
“This woman is a very nice woman. She’s smart, but it happened where she was being defrauded, and I’m just extremely gratified that I could help,” he said.
The FBI has identified three main types of scams involving the gold bar and cash courier schemes: grandparent scams, government impersonation and tech support scams.
Grandparent scams involve criminals posing as a grandchild, relative or lawyer in distress, claiming a family member is in legal or medical trouble and needs money or gold immediately.
Government impersonation scams involve someone posing as a member of government or law enforcement threatening to arrest someone because their identification was found in a package containing drugs seized by the government. The victim is told that, in order to protect their identity, they must liquidate their funds into cash, gold or other precious metals to be put into a “government-owned” bank account.
Tech support scams involve a victim receiving an alert on their computer telling them to call a help desk line to resolve an issue that is not real. The “help desk” inspects the computer and claims to find illegal purchases, like child sexual abuse images. The scammer transfers the victim to others in the scheme who are impersonating government officials. The victim is ultimately told they must put their money in a Department of Justice escrow or bank account.
Crowley said the U.S. government will never ask you to purchase gold or other precious metals.
The FBI says you can protect yourself and your loved ones by:
- Limiting what you post online
- Not agreeing to meet strangers to deliver cash or precious metals
- Not clicking on unsolicited pop-ups, links, or attachments from unknown or spoofed senders
- Not calling unknown telephone numbers from pop-ups, texts or emails
- Not downloading software from unknown individuals or give them access to your computer.
The FBI is urging anyone who has been a target of fraud or attempted fraud to report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Be sure to include as much information about the transaction as possible.
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