Updated Gold Scammer List for 2026

The companies named below are referenced solely on the basis of publicly documented regulatory actions and court judgments, each linked to its source. We are not financial advisors, and nothing here is financial advice. Always do your own research and consult a qualified professional before buying.

If you searched for a “gold scammer list,” you were probably hoping to find a single, tidy blacklist of every crooked precious metals dealer in America. There is bad news and good news.

The bad news: no such official master list exists. There is no government registry where you can type in a company name and get a red or green light. The precious metals industry is only loosely regulated, and that regulatory gap is exactly what predatory operators exploit.

The good news: there is a public paper trail. Federal and state regulators — the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and dozens of state attorneys general — have pursued, charged, and in many cases obtained judgments against specific gold and silver dealers who defrauded customers. Those enforcement actions are matters of public record, and together they form the closest thing to a legitimate “gold scammer list” that exists.

Even more valuable than the names, though, are the patterns. Once you understand how these schemes work, you can spot a scam operation you’ve never heard of before it costs you a dime. That’s what this article is really about: the documented cases, the repeatable red flags, and a concrete process for verifying any dealer before you hand over a single dollar of retirement savings.

Why Gold Attracts Scammers in the First Place

Before we name names, it helps to understand why this niche is such fertile ground for fraud. The CFTC has been blunt about it: precious metals frauds are on the rise, and scammers deliberately prey on fears about the durability of the U.S. financial system. They promise safety, then sell metals at wildly inflated prices while charging steep commissions.

The target demographic is no accident. Fraudulent dealers overwhelmingly go after seniors and people nearing retirement, for one simple reason: that’s where the money is. Most Americans hold the bulk of their wealth in retirement accounts, and older savers both have larger balances and can more easily access those funds. Scammers convince these savers to roll their 401(k)s, TSPs, or existing IRAs into self-directed IRAs, then load them up with overpriced metal.

Self-directed IRAs are a particular weak point. Regulators including the SEC, FINRA, and NASAA have jointly warned that fraudsters are more likely to exploit self-directed IRAs because the custodians of these accounts typically don’t investigate the underlying assets or vet the promoter’s background. And because early withdrawals carry tax penalties, victims tend to leave the account alone for years — which lets a fraud run undetected far longer than it otherwise would.

There’s also a psychological layer. These operations frequently use affinity fraud: they infiltrate specific political and religious communities, run microtargeted social media ads, and fabricate endorsements from trusted pundits, celebrities, or religious figures. The pitch weaponizes fear — hyperinflation, a dollar collapse, government confiscation — and then positions overpriced gold as the only safe harbor. It’s a con as old as commerce, just with better Facebook targeting.

One more thing worth stating plainly, because honest dealers will tell you the same: metals themselves are a legitimate diversification tool, but they are not magic. Precious metals don’t pay dividends, generate earnings, or compound. Prices are volatile. Gold’s lack of correlation with stocks does not make it “low-risk” or “safe.” Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling, not educating.

The Documented Cases: The Real “Gold Scammer List”

Here are several of the most significant precious metals fraud cases brought by regulators in recent years. Each is grounded in public filings and court records. Every one is characterized as precisely as possible — who brought the action, what was alleged, and where it landed — because the difference between “charged” and “convicted” matters, and because fairness demands it.

Metals.com / TMTE, Inc. (and affiliated entities).

In September 2020, the CFTC and 30 state regulators charged TMTE, Inc. — doing business as Metals.com — along with Chase Metals, Barrick Capital, and principals Lucas Asher and Simon Batashvili, in what was described as an ongoing nationwide fraud that took in more than $185 million from customers for fraudulently overpriced gold and silver bullion. Reporting at the time indicated the scheme drew in at least 1,600 people, most of them elderly, with roughly $140 million coming from retirement funds. According to the CFTC, customers were deceived into buying bullion at grossly inflated prices, with overcharges averaging from 100 percent to more than 300 percent over the prevailing market price. A federal court froze the defendants’ assets and appointed a receiver. The case is a cautionary tale about the scale these schemes can reach. Source: CFTC release 8254-20.

Safeguard Metals LLC

In November 2025, the CFTC and 30 state regulators announced a final judgment ordering Safeguard Metals and its owner to pay $25.6 million in restitution and a $25.6 million civil penalty. An earlier consent order found they had run a nationwide scheme that took in approximately $68 million from more than 450 customers, most of them elderly or retirement-aged. According to the CFTC, the company lured customers with false claims about the risk in their existing retirement accounts, then sold them silver and gold coins at inflated prices by misrepresenting its markups. Victims who believed they were buying “safe” assets lost a substantial share of their money the moment the purchase closed. The earlier order also barred the defendants from trading or registering with the CFTC and the participating states. Source: CFTC release 9139-25.

Red Rock Secured LLC

The SEC, CFTC, and California and Hawaii regulators pursued Red Rock Secured, its CEO, and account executives over a scheme to convince retirement savers to move money from TSP accounts, 401(k)s, and IRAs into self-directed IRAs to buy gold and silver coins. The SEC alleged that Red Rock told customers it charged markups of just 1–5%, when in reality markups ran as high as 130% on the coins it sold between 2017 and 2022. In April 2024 a federal court entered a final consent judgment ordering the defendants to pay more than $76.4 million, resolving charges tied to defrauding retirement account holders of more than $50 million. In the parallel CFTC case the court ordered over $56 million. Sources: SEC litigation release 25996 and CFTC release 8898-24.

Regal Assets LLC

The CFTC and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation brought a roughly $21 million action against Regal Assets, alleging the firm misappropriated funds from more than 120 customers — diverting money meant for metals purchases to cover business and personal expenses while feeding customers misleading information. Regal Assets had, for years, marketed itself aggressively through affiliate review sites, which is a reminder that a heavy online marketing presence and glowing “review” pages are not evidence of legitimacy. In 2024 the court entered default judgments ordering the company, its CEO and its former president to pay $49 million. Sources: CFTC release 8791-23 and CFTC release 9001-24.

A few honest caveats about this list. Enforcement is ongoing and fact patterns evolve; some of these cases have faced legal complications on appeal or jurisdiction. A charge is an allegation, and a judgment against one corporate entity doesn’t automatically implicate every person who ever worked there. But the through-line across all of them is unmistakable, and it’s the same set of tactics every time. Learn those, and you don’t need to memorize company names.

Zooming out: over roughly the past decade, the CFTC has pursued cases against fraudulent dealers who collectively sold more than $500 million in overpriced metals to victims (CFTC release 8881-24). This is not a fringe problem.

The Anatomy of a Gold Scam: Tactics That Show Up Again and Again

Strip away the company names and nearly every precious metals scam runs the same playbook. If you can recognize these moves, you’re better protected than most.

The numismatic bait-and-switch

You call about affordable bullion. The salesperson agrees at first, then pivots hard: those bullion coins are “out of stock,” or — better yet — you really want these “rare,” “exclusive,” “proof,” or “limited edition” collectible coins, which supposedly carry more upside. In reality, numismatic and semi-numismatic coins are where the enormous markups hide. Standard bullion typically carries a premium of roughly 3–8% over spot; scam-tier collectible coins can carry markups of 40%, 80%, or more over their actual melt value. Worse, many collectible coins don’t even meet IRS purity requirements for an IRA (gold must be 0.995 fine, silver 0.999), so you may be buying something that doesn’t belong in the account at all.

Massive, undisclosed spreads

Every dealer earns a spread between what they pay for metal and what they charge you — that’s normal. What’s not normal is a 30%, 50%, or 100%+ markup buried in fine print. In the documented cases above, the fraud very often came down to lying about the spread. This is why the single most powerful question you can ask is: “What is your exact markup over the current spot price on this specific coin?” A legitimate dealer answers immediately. A scammer dodges.

Fear-based, high-pressure closing

“The dollar is about to collapse.” “This price is only good until the market closes today.” “You need to act now.” Retirement decisions deserve weeks of consideration, and honest companies know it. Any operation that calls you repeatedly, invents urgency, or leans on doomsday scripts to force a same-day decision is prioritizing its commission over your future.

Affinity and impersonation tactics

Fake endorsements from well-known media figures, ads impersonating trusted news outlets, and pitches tailored to a specific political or religious identity are hallmarks of these schemes. In 2025 and beyond, regulators have also flagged a sharp rise in AI-generated fraud — deepfake celebrity endorsement videos and AI-built websites that are nearly indistinguishable from legitimate dealers. Treat any unsolicited endorsement with deep skepticism.

The “home storage” myth

Some operators tell you that you can store your IRA metals at home in a safe. You generally cannot. Taking personal possession of IRA metal is treated as a distribution and can trigger taxes and penalties. By law, IRA precious metals must be held by an IRS-approved depository. Anyone encouraging home storage of IRA gold is either misinformed or setting you up.

Leveraged “financing” deals

A dealer calls with a hot tip: put down 20–25% and they’ll “finance” the rest of a once-in-a-lifetime metals purchase. Unless the company is a registered exchange or delivers the physical metal within 28 days, this kind of leveraged transaction can violate the Commodity Exchange Act. Past investigations found cases where no metal was ever actually purchased, yet customers were charged interest, storage, and insurance on phantom holdings.

Fake credentials and manufactured social proof

Predatory companies photoshop BBB seals, fabricate industry awards from organizations that don’t exist (or that they secretly sponsor), and buy fake five-star reviews. A logo on a website proves nothing. An “award” from an affiliate marketing site is not the same as recognition from a recognized financial publication.

“IRA expert” role-play

Metals salespeople are usually not licensed to give financial advice and, unlike a fiduciary, have no legal obligation to act in your interest. Many nonetheless pose as “IRA specialists” or de facto advisors. Their recommendations are driven by commission. Keep that framing front of mind for every conversation.

Your Red-Flag Checklist

Print this. If a company trips more than one or two of these, walk away:

• Contacted you first — an unsolicited cold call, email, text, social ad, or mailer
• Pushes collectible, numismatic, “proof,” or “exclusive” coins for your IRA
• Won’t state the exact markup over spot in plain numbers
• Won’t provide a complete fee schedule in writing before you commit
• Uses urgency or fear to force a fast decision, or calls you repeatedly
• Guarantees returns or calls gold “100% safe” (no legitimate dealer ever does)
• Suggests you can store IRA metals at home
• Offers leveraged “financing” without delivering physical metal
• Only lists a P.O. box, has no verifiable physical address, or has a very short operating history
• Displays credentials or awards you can’t independently verify

How to Verify Any Dealer Before You Buy

Here’s a process to follow before trusting any precious metals company with real money. None of it takes special expertise. It just takes patience, which is precisely what a scammer is trying to rush you out of.

1. Know the spot price first. Look up the current spot price of gold or silver before you talk to anyone. When a dealer quotes you a price, you’ll immediately see the premium. If you can’t reconcile their number with spot, ask them to explain it in writing.

2. Check the BBB and BCA — directly. Go to BBB.org and the Business Consumer Alliance yourself; don’t trust a badge on the company’s site. Look at the rating, the number and nature of complaints, and how they were resolved. One caution: a good BBB rating alone isn’t proof of integrity — some bad actors keep their ratings clean by quietly refunding the loudest complainers while continuing the same practices. Read the actual complaint narratives.

3. Verify the business itself. Search your state’s Secretary of State database (and the company’s home state) to confirm when the business was actually formed. Fraud operations frequently use “shelf companies” — dormant corporations bought to appear older than they are — and serial rebrands to shed a bad reputation. If the incorporation date contradicts the company’s marketing claims, that’s a serious flag.

4. Cross-check regulators. Search the company and its principals’ names alongside “CFTC,” “SEC,” “FTC,” “complaint,” “lawsuit,” and “fraud.” Check the National Futures Association’s BASIC database and FINRA’s BrokerCheck for anyone claiming to give financial advice. A history of enforcement actions is exactly what you’re trying to surface.

5. Confirm the custodian and depository independently. A legitimate gold IRA runs through an IRS-approved self-directed custodian and stores metal at an IRS-approved depository (Delaware Depository and Brink’s are common examples). Call the custodian directly to confirm the dealer actually works with them, and insist on getting depository statements directly from the storage facility — not filtered through the dealer.

6. Demand every fee in writing. Setup fee, annual custodian fee, storage fee (and whether it’s segregated or commingled), and the markup over spot on the specific products you’re buying. Scam-level fees and markups can quietly consume a huge chunk of your principal before gold prices move at all. If a company quotes fees verbally but won’t put them on paper, you have your answer.

7. Get multiple quotes and take your time. Compare at least three or four companies. Talk to a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor who has no stake in the sale. And give yourself at least a week. The single most protective habit you can build is refusing to be rushed.

What a Legitimate Company Looks Like

It’s easy to catalog the bad. It’s more useful to know what “good” actually looks like, because the contrast is stark once you’ve seen both.

A trustworthy dealer leads with education rather than fear, discloses every fee in writing before any transaction, quotes a reasonable markup over spot and will state it out loud, steers you toward standard IRS-approved bullion rather than high-margin collectibles, encourages you to take your time and consult an advisor, and carries a long, clean, verifiable track record across independent platforms.

Augusta Precious Metals is the company we most often point readers to as a benchmark for this, and the reasons map almost one-for-one against the scam red flags above. It holds a BBB A+ rating with an established history, has been recognized by mainstream financial publications rather than self-issued “awards,” and is built around an education-first model — including a one-on-one web conference designed by its director of education — rather than a high-pressure boiler room. Even Augusta’s own disclosures state plainly that past performance doesn’t guarantee future results and that buying metals carries real risk. Counterintuitively, that kind of blunt honesty is one of the strongest signals a company is legitimate. A scammer promises certainty; an honest dealer discloses risk.

None of this makes any single company right for you — that depends on your goals, your timeline, and your own due diligence. But if you use a company like that as your baseline, the outfits that fail the comparison tend to reveal themselves quickly.

How to Report a Gold Scam

If you encounter a suspicious dealer — or believe you’ve been defrauded — reporting it protects you and helps regulators build the enforcement cases that shut these operations down. Use as many of these channels as apply:

• CFTC — Has jurisdiction over much precious metals fraud. File at cftc.gov/complaint or call 866-366-2382.
• SEC — For fraudulent securities schemes and rollovers. Report at sec.gov/tcr.
• FTC — Tracks consumer fraud patterns and can take enforcement action. File at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
• Your state attorney general — Can investigate, prosecute, and sometimes help recover funds within their jurisdiction.
• NASAA / your state securities regulator — For state-level securities and fraud violations.
• Better Business Bureau — Creates a public record and may prompt the company to respond.

Document everything: names, dates, recordings, invoices, account statements, and every written communication. If real money is at stake, consult an attorney who specializes in securities or consumer-fraud law.

The Bottom Line

There is no official “gold scammer list,” but there’s something more useful: a clear public record of the companies regulators have taken down, and an unmistakable pattern in how they operated. Metals.com, Safeguard Metals, Red Rock Secured, Regal Assets — different names, the same con. Unsolicited fear-based pitches, bait-and-switch collectible coins, undisclosed markups, manufactured urgency, and fake credentials.

You don’t need a blacklist to stay safe. You need the spot price, a written fee schedule, a few minutes on BBB.org and your Secretary of State’s website, an independent call to the custodian and depository, and the discipline to walk away from anyone who tries to rush you. Do that, and the scammers lose their only real advantage — your fear and your haste.

Gold can be a genuinely sensible part of a diversified retirement plan. Just make sure the person selling it to you has earned your trust the honest way: through transparency, patience, and a track record you can verify yourself.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Company references are based on publicly available regulatory filings and court records as of publication and may be subject to appeal or further proceedings. Buying precious metals involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Consult a qualified professional before making any financial decision.