Gold Education
Buying & Owning Safely
Scams, Fakes and the Red Flags That Give Them Away
Counterfeit metal is rare. Losing money to ordinary details nobody checked is not rare at all.
Everyone worries about a fake bar. In practice most money is lost to perfectly real gold sold on unfair terms — and the checks that prevent both are the same.
The actual fakes
- Tungsten-filled bars — Tungsten has almost exactly gold’s density, so weight alone does not catch it. Ultrasound or drilling does. This is why provenance and hallmarks matter on large bars.
- Gold-plated base metal — Common in jewellery. Fails an acid or electronic test instantly.
- False purity stamps — 916 stamped on 750 metal. The stamp is only as good as the assay office behind it.
- Short weight — The oldest one — the box, the tag or the thread weighed along with the gold.
The scams that take more money than fakes do
- Guaranteed-return gold schemes — Nobody can guarantee a return on an asset whose price they do not control. This is the single most expensive gold scam in the region.
- Making charge buried in the rate — One blended number, so you cannot see what the labour cost.
- No buy-back commitment — A seller who will not quote a buy-back knows the number would lose the sale.
- Pressure to decide today — "This rate is only until evening." The rate will be there tomorrow.
The checks that cover almost everything
- 1
Buy from a seller with a traceable address
Someone you can return to is worth a small premium. - 2
Insist on a hallmark and an invoice
With weight, purity and the making charge itemised. - 3
Watch it weighed
On a calibrated scale, gold only, in front of you. - 4
Ask the buy-back question
Before paying, not after.
If something already went wrong
Keep every document and get an independent assay before you argue. An assay certificate turns a dispute about opinions into a dispute about a measurement, which is the only kind you can win.