BUYING A HEADACHE: THE GOLD IRA SCAM

The article EVERYONE needs to read

Reposted from SarahWestall.com

Message from Sarah Westall:

This personal testimony and article was essential to share and long overdue. It puts a human face on a widespread and devastating issue. The bottom line: thousands of people across the United States—and beyond—have been scammed through Gold IRA schemes, resulting in millions of dollars in stolen life savings. These scams are targeting everyday people, often wiping out 50%, 60%, even 70% of their retirement savings. The emotional and financial toll on victims is very real.

I’ve spent countless hours uncovering and documenting this problem. I’ve interviewed FBI whistleblower Kyle Serafin, who helped shed light on the broader scope of this fraud, and Dale Whitaker, a former CFO of one of these companies, who is bravely speaking out as a whistleblower.

I’ve also done multiple interviews with Andy Schectman, CEO of Miles Franklin, a company that is actively helping victims recover what they’ve lost. Together, Andy and I have appeared with Glenn and Eric Meder from the Privacy Academy, whose mission is to protect people from financial and other scams. They shared their own story of being approached by a shady metals dealer who offered them an outrageous amount of money to promote their products—a common tactic targeting influencers and podcasters. In an industry where profit margins are slim, such large payouts are a red flag media personalities need to recognize.

Sadly, the lure of easy money causes many in the media to look the other way. Some are unaware; others choose not to ask questions. But it’s time for everyone to wake up to the consequences of their silence.

I hope this article helps raise awareness and empowers others to speak out.

If you or someone you know has been caught up in a scam like this, you are not alone—and you should not be ashamed. We have heard from hundreds of people who have been affected by this exact scheme. There is help. We are working with Miles Franklin to support victims and help recover what was lost. Learn more at SarahWestall.com/MilesFranklin.

A big thank you to Charles Drake for courageously sharing his personal journey. Sharing such experiences takes real strength, and his story will help many.

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BUYING A HEADACHE: THE GOLD IRA SCAM

By Charles E. Drake, Investigative Journalist

This is an article someone had to write. I wish it weren’t me.

This is a story about gold IRA scammers… dealers in gold IRAs who tear through your savings about as quickly as a roulette wheel. I’m going to tell you how I was cheated, and then I’ll get to the signposts you could look for to avoid the same fate.

First, I need to say something about gullibility. We all have our favorite media personalities whose views we may echo. And if they’re small-time and independent, we may donate a few dollars every month to help them keep the lights on. That shows devotion… making charitable contributions just to support a pundit’s cause. It’s not even clear if God would value that sacrifice. When a media figure fosters that kind of loyalty, it can be near-impossible for their followers to consider that they might be getting duped. The fan can’t see that the metaphorical “preacher of the good word” they’re worshiping might be the kind to fleece the flock.

In my case, I’d heard along with everyone else that a collapsing dollar would require having some assets in gold as a hedge against runaway inflation. I made notes while listening to my usual podcasts when two hosts I admired recommended two different gold IRA companies. I decided to contact the company recommended by the host who lives in a neighboring suburb. I’d been donating ten dollars to her monthly, seeing her periodically at medical freedom conferences, and I couldn’t imagine that she’d risk selling out people she’d have to bump into in public. It didn’t occur to me then that politicians often sell out people and don’t seem particularly concerned about appearing in parades.

“The local host” – I leave her unnamed as her culpability can only be guessed at – was completely sold on her gold IRA group. She’d devoted entire podcasts to them; their CEO would appear as a special guest and discuss the economy as it interests the patriot class. He said the right reassuring things a potential (patriot-leaning) investor might want to hear. Here is an example of something he’d said that incorporated religious fervor:

“When you choose to leave the dollar for something else – gold and silver is a pretty good option – then you have a new religion.

“You are now actually choosing to leave the man-made financial world with some of your savings to be brave – which I think all the gods we might choose to call god – and all the different versions of religions – admire us when we have courage and fortitude and resilience personally and not expecting others to go keep us safe.”

After I contacted the gold IRA group, things moved quickly. I called to see whether I could draw money out of a New York State Deferred Compensation plan to invest. Two days later, I was part of a three-way call as a representative from the gold IRA group spoke to someone at New York State Comp and was informed of the proper forms to allow the withdrawal of funds. The gold IRA group representative offered to overnight me some forms – which seemed a little rushed – and I stepped back for a couple of days to think things over.

After negotiations resumed, the final step was my being put on a call with a gold IRA group representative who would select the specific gold and silver products for my portfolio. It was at this point that my gullibility became a real liability.

My misunderstanding was that the gold IRA group would provide me with a choice of metals that would be beneficial to me. I felt that they would. This feeling stemmed from their being strongly recommended by a podcaster I trusted, and common sense suggesting a company that abuses its clients’ trust won’t be in business long. If that thinking sounds naïve to you, it does me now, too.

The representative was likely required to explain a financial term before the transaction could be completed, which was “spread.” He explained it was what most people think of as “markup.” He gave an innocuous example in which the difference between the price at which a gold IRA group purchased a metal and sold it to a customer for was negligible. I felt okay about it. After he selected the metals that would go into my portfolio, I was immediately emailed documents to sign. They included a fairly-scary-sounding paragraph concerning the “spread,” but being led to believe that the spread was likely to be reasonable, I signed.

Before discussing how badly I was taken in, I want to quote a customer review of the gold IRA group that I invested with. The review is posted on Trustpilot.com. I only found it after the transaction had been completed. This line from the review reflects my own experience. The name of the gold IRA group has been omitted.

“The (gold IRA group) uses high-pressure tactics and misleading information to try and sell semi-numismatic coins at about double their actual value.” (Emphasis mine)

AND HOW DEEP IS THE PIT?

Once the transaction was complete, I was sent a receipt for the various metals I’d purchased. I then did something I should have done before the paperwork was finished. I checked the prices for the coins against their prices on two sites where I’d made small purchases of physical silver before. The first coin I researched that I’d been sold by the gold IRA group I found listed for $392.29 and $379.83… but I’d been sold seven for $449 each.

If I could go back to when the gold IRA group representative rattled off the prices of the coins he had chosen for me, I should have written them down and told him I’d get back to him. Instead, it now being too late for that, I called a representative for a competing gold IRA group I’d considered going with.

I asked the representative from the competing firm if $449 for the coin I’d been sold was within reason. He said he could sell it to me for $403. You may think a representative from a competing company would, of course, throw the company I’d signed with under the bus. He didn’t, though, except to say the terms of my deal were “not great, not terrible.” He said that because the company I’d gone with offered free gold storage for a year, that might make up for the markup. I went away feeling okay/not great about the deal I’d made.

…but then I continued comparing prices.

I thought I must be doing something wrong when it looked to me like a coin that retailed in the $1,000–$1,090 range had been sold to me for $1819… and I’d been sold five of them to make matters potentially worse. Another coin I’d been sold looked as if it should have been in the $208–$218 range when it was sold to me for $392. And I’d been sold 11 of them.

I thought that the differences were so large that there must be a misunderstanding. I called the competing broker back, and the conversation went like this:

ME: I’m probably comparing apples to oranges, or misunderstanding something, but there are a couple of other prices that don’t make sense. They sold me a 2025 ¼ oz Gold Lady Liberty “Freedom and Strength” coin for $1,819.

DEALER: That’s twice what you should have paid.

ME: …and they sold me a 5 oz silver “America the Beautiful” for $392.

DEALER: That’s also twice what you should have paid.

At that point, the competing dealer was of the opinion that the purchase I’d made was a lot worse than just “not great.”

GETTING UNTANGLED

Before continuing with how I dealt with apparently having signed a contract with sharks, I’d like to jump back to the customer review of the iffy gold IRA group that I’d invested with. This is a fuller excerpt:

“This company flags any negative reviews and tries to get them taken down. They flagged my previous review twice within three months. The first time, I had to provide documentation to prove my experience was real, which I did, and it was put back online within a few hours.

“Last Wednesday, they flagged my review a second time. This time, they went after me for ‘harming their business’ by reporting them to the CFTC and suggesting others do the same if they have been scammed by one of these gold companies. The automated bot used by this website identified my post as ‘promotional materials’ because it included contact information to help scam victims report a scam. So, I edited it, and this website put it back online.

“The (gold IRA group) uses high-pressure tactics and misleading information to try and sell semi-numismatic coins at about double their actual value. They call and text repeatedly to the point of harassment and refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer. When their rating dropped down to about 4 stars, this website suddenly became flooded with what appeared to be fake five-star reviews from unverified people, which all essentially say the same thing and name the same person. This is an extremely sophisticated scam. Don’t fall for it.”

Of course, after breaking down the invoice and reading the above review too late to do me any good, I knew I’d been taken. I began going through the contract I’d signed only to find that the company had little obligation to the customer… or about the same obligation a carnival barker does at the booth where you shoot lead bottles for prizes. It looked like they gave themselves a lot of leeway to upcharge the customer. Here’s an excerpt from the contract’s fairly-scary-sounding paragraph that I alluded to earlier. The company’s name has once again been omitted:

“On the date this agreement was offered to Customer, (company)’s Spread on (i) bullion was between one percent and nineteen-point ninety-nine percent (1-19.99% never to exceed 19.99%); and (ii) low mintage private coins and bars and numismatic coins was between five and fifty percent (5-50% never to exceed 50%). However, these percentages vary, and the actual Spread on any specific transaction may be outside the stated typical ranges.”

I was advised by the competing dealer to contact a district attorney and to call the gold IRA group, threatening legal action and expressing the desire “to be made whole.” I took that advice and more. I left messages including the suggestions above. But I also sent an email in which I threatened to make use of a long-standing friendship with a noted New York politician. I, additionally, sent links to various articles I’d written, letting them know they would soon be the subject of one if I were not released from the contract.

Whichever tactic took hold, something seemed to, and they said I could cancel. When I wrote podcaster Sarah Westall – who had tweeted about disreputable gold IRA companies – about writing an article like this for her site, she mentioned she’d been contacted by more than 100 people who’d had issues with gold IRA companies; I’d guess not everyone finds cancellation easy, depending on the investment group.

MY DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THE LOCAL MEDIA GODDESS

Of course, I feel some sense of betrayal at the hands of the local podcaster who sold the gold IRA group every way possible, including devoting entire soft-focus episodes to profiling company members. In my past life as a reporter, I published multiple complimentary articles about the podcaster, including interviews and photographs. I think, therefore, I may see her funneling her listenership to this gold dealer in a way others might miss.

The local podcaster has been very critical of Trump – as has the Medical Freedom Community generally – for his refusal to recognize the harm done by a vaccine he promoted – harm to people who suffered greatly, to those not aware they were affected and whose injuries have yet to surface, and to new victims still signing onto to his version of therapy.

My friendly neighborhood podcaster now finds herself in the same position as Trump, as she recognizes the harm that can come from her specific brand of financial prescription – harm to people who have suffered greatly, to those not aware they were affected and whose injuries have yet to surface, and to new victims still signing on.

My considered opinion is that just as Trump made the ruthless determination that protecting “his brand” was more important than admitting fault and unwinding injury, our local podcaster will make the same call.

You can guess, I’m not donating to either of them.

Charles E. Drake wrote for Tracy Beanz’s publication UncoverDC for three years under various pen names. If you enjoy his writing, some of his many articles you may want to search out would be: the two-part “How to Operate an NYS Socialist Woman Without Crashing” in which he drew odd connections between various New York State socialist politicians including Alexandria Cortez, “Guide to New Jobs in the Information War” in which he cataloged new info warfare techniques developed in Western New York State, and an article that arguably could have turned the city of Rochester on its head had the story been covered by reporters beyond him, the three-part “New York State Whistleblower: Untruths, Missed Shots, and the Crossroads Garage.”

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