{"id":335717,"date":"2026-02-02T21:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T02:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/authorities-shut-down-3-illegal-call-centers-tied-to-gold-bar-scam"},"modified":"2026-02-02T21:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T02:37:14","slug":"authorities-shut-down-3-illegal-call-centers-tied-to-gold-bar-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/authorities-shut-down-3-illegal-call-centers-tied-to-gold-bar-scam","title":{"rendered":"Authorities shut down 3 unlawful name facilities tied to gold bar rip-off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Maryland and federal authorities announced Monday that they have shut down three Indian call centers linked to a gold bar scam that stole millions of dollars from American consumers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Authorities said the operation netted almost $50 million from more than 600 victims across the U.S. through wire transfer, cryptocurrency and gold bar schemes.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The six alleged leaders of the scheme were also arrested, authorities said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">An <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FUS%2Fgold-grifters-inside-growing-scam-couriers-pick-gold%2Fstory%3Fid%3D119147460&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMarc.E.Nathanson%40abc.com%7Ce3bdbdd309934858df9008de628345df%7C56b731a8a2ac4c32bf6b616810e913c6%7C1%7C0%7C639056513372544008%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=yYYELozGu56OOWUkeFkrMqGiChUzi9Q3CD62qfygxFc%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\"><u class=\" \">ABC News investigation<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<!-- -->previously found that as the value of gold surged, grifters posing as federal agents convinced people &#8212; mostly older Americans &#8212; to convert their life savings into gold bars.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">As part of the scheme, scammers sent &#8220;couriers&#8221; to pick up the bars in person to allegedly keep them in a secure location.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur Rnci \" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/069d0261-49b7-4016-a6bc-71601df83fac\/montgomery-1-ht-er-260202_1770059375097_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/069d0261-49b7-4016-a6bc-71601df83fac\/montgomery-1-ht-er-260202_1770059375097_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/069d0261-49b7-4016-a6bc-71601df83fac\/montgomery-1-ht-er-260202_1770059375097_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/069d0261-49b7-4016-a6bc-71601df83fac\/montgomery-1-ht-er-260202_1770059375097_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"ABC News\" alt=\"ABC News\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/069d0261-49b7-4016-a6bc-71601df83fac\/montgomery-1-ht-er-260202_1770059375097_hpMain_16x9.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">John McCarthy, the state&#8217;s attorney for Montgomery County speaks during a press conference at the Montgomery County Police Department in Gaithersburg, Md., Feb. 2, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Montgomery County Police Department <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Last year, ABC News interviewed a suspected courier from jail as he faced charges in two states for his alleged involvement in the scam. He claimed he was hired by an individual in India and paid between $800 and $4,000 per job to pick up packages, some of which contained gold bars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">John McCarthy, the Maryland state attorney for Montgomery County, announced Monday that his office had indicted 10 couriers accused of collecting money from victims, and said that several of those cases have already resulted in convictions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">&#8220;They&#8217;re targeting people who have retirement money, who have pensions, who have investments, who&#8217;ve maybe sold their homes and have that money in reserve,&#8221; McCarthy said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/authorities-shut-3-illegal-call-centers-tied-gold\/story?id=129788999\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maryland and federal authorities announced Monday that they have shut down three Indian call centers linked to a gold bar scam that stole millions of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":335720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11924,13849,282,13848,465,269,13851,13847,13850,12719,173],"class_list":["post-335717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-abc-news","tag-gaithersburg","tag-india","tag-john-mccarthy","tag-lawyer","tag-maryland","tag-maryland-state-lawyer","tag-montgomery-county","tag-montgomery-county-police-division","tag-rip","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335717"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335719,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335717\/revisions\/335719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}