Fun on Friday: Just Say No to Gas Station Gold

Here’s a tip for you.

If some guy comes up to you in a gas station parking lot and tries to sell you gold, don’t buy it.

Seriously. Just say, “No!”

Who would even buy gas station gold? You might ask.

Well apparently, a lot of people.

According to a report on Eyewitness News 3 in Hartford, Connecticut, one jewelry and coin dealer has had close two 20 people come in looking to sell fake gold they bought in a gas station parking lot.  Some 20 people coming into just one store.

That’s a lot of suckers.

Sue Couture works at Good Ole Tom’s in East Hartford. She says it’s easy to quickly identify the fake gold. Just stick a magnet to it. Gold isn’t magnetic. So, if you’re going to make a gas station parking lot gold purchase, at least bring a magnet with you.

But really, I’d stick with my first advice. Just don’t. Say, “No!” to gas station gold.

The folks selling fake gold in gas station parking lots are running a variation of a scam we’ve all encountered at one time or another. Some poor soul approaches you at the gas station and tells you a sob story about running out of gas and how they need to get to Florida (Presumably so they can become Florida man.) The thing is, most of us have caught on. We know that this dude isn’t out of gas. He wants beer money. And most of us aren’t too keen on supplying somebody else’s beer. If beer is going to be bought, we’ll be doing the drinking – thank you very much.

So, the scammers have started sweetening the deal. They still use the same sob story, but they tell you they’re so desperate, they’re willing to part with their valuable gold. Suddenly, it becomes a win-win. You get gold at a bargain-basement price and our intrepid scammer gets his beer…er…I mean gas money.

Here’s what I don’t get. Does dangling gold in front of you make the story seem more believable?

No.

In fact, I think it’s less believable. I can wrap my head around legitimate begging, but I can’t really fathom somebody selling their gold at the gas station. I mean, couldn’t they just hike down to Good Ole Tom’s and sell it themselves? It might be a bit of a hike. But at least they’d get something approximating the value of the gold.

On a side-note. Take a good look at the picture of one of the rings some poor sucker bought at the gas station. Does that look real to you? Because it doesn’t look real to me. I don’t need a magnet to tell me that’s a fake.

Look, I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but nobody does this in real life. Sane people don’t sell high-end gold in a gas station parking lot at discount prices.

And insane people don’t either.

Here’s today’s free advice. If somebody is hawking peaches and tomatoes at the gas station, load up. If they’re selling fireworks, have a blast. If they’re offering pecan logs, have yourself a feast. But if somebody just walks up to you and offers to sell you “high-end” gold know this…

It. Is. A. Scam.

Gold is valuable. This is why people don’t sell real gold in gas station parking lots. If you want to buy some gold, I suggest calling a SchiffGold precious metals specialist today at 1-888-GOLD-160. They can’t sell you peaches or fireworks. But hey, you can get those at the gas station.

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.