'Gold bar' scam cost Radnor seniors more than $3 million: Police | Investigation

RADNOR, Pa. (WPVI) -- Authorities in Radnor, Delaware County, have a warning about a scam targeting the elderly in our area.

It's been dubbed the "gold bar" scam.

Police tell the Action News Investigative Team that two of the elderly victims lost more than $3 million combined.

The criminals work by contacting their victims online or by phone, claiming to be government workers. They tell victims their financial accounts have been compromised.

"It gives you a pit in your stomach," said Radnor Police Detective Brian Bell.

"Have you seen the theft of the elderly that has reached dollar heights like this?" asked Chad Pradelli.

"I have not," replied Bell.

Radnor police said the first victim was contacted via phone in October of last year.

"That person operated under the ruse that they were with the Social Security Administration and that her money had been compromised," he said.

The fix? The 90-year-old needed to buy gold to protect her retirement.

"They instructed her to photograph the gold," said Bell. "They then instructed her to repackage the gold, and they said that a courier would be en route to her house to pick it up."

Investigators said nine similar transactions would take place from February to August of last year.

"I don't know the rest of her financial details, but the account that she transferred everything over from was pretty much drained at that point," said Bell.

A few months later, she contacted the police. That was also right around the time a Radnor man reported a similar scam.

Police said that the victim lost $86,000 before he called police. The thieves made contact with the 78-year-old first through Facebook.

Police said both the victims lived alone and neither has adult children.

"You think of your grandmother, the elderly neighbor down the street, and how heartbroken they would be," said Radnor Police Chief Chris Flanagan. "This is serious stuff, though. Sometimes the elderly don't know how to deal with this after it happens."

Detectives believe the criminal network operates out of an India call center and uses couriers to pick up the gold.

The victims are instructed to leave it in the back seat of their car in the driveway.

Both the courier and victims are given a password to relay to one another.

Federal authorities say some couriers are in on the scam, but others are not.

"I believe that it's not the same courier," said Bell. "I think it's just a group chat of someone from a call center contacting these people, and it's kind of like first come first served basis."

The scam is happening all across the country.

An Indiana man told our sister station in Chicago he lost $80,000.

"I called the number and was told my computer had been hacked," said Kris Owen.

A mother in New York told ABC News she lost $700,000 to the scheme.

"I just can't understand why people do these things," said Eva Rothman. "They don't have a heart."

Authorities have arrested several people connected to these gold bar scams in recent months, but most were couriers working for overseas actors.

The FBI said over a 10-month period last year, there were 5,100 victims of the gold bar scam, exceeding $262 million in losses.

"Just relay the message to your loved one, your family, that scams are going around," said Bell. "It's the new age. Just make them aware because awareness is the number one key."

Radnor police said it is working with the FBI and New Jersey State Police in this investigation.

Their message: if you or someone you know was a victim, report it.