In this current economic downturn, many people are eager for a "quick fix" to their monetary woes. This brings out more than the usual number of scammers in search of a motivated and easy target. I have seen this happen before each time there is a recession and during the Asian Currency Crisis. There is no such thing as a free lunch and a fool and his money will be parted, given half a chance.
Usually it is easy enough to spot such scams, but when a person is blinded by greed/desperation, it's hard to make them see anything. Fortunately some potential victims retain enough lucidity to seek me out, and I willingly help them if I am able to. Listed below are a few "projects" that have been brought to my attention and duly nullified mainly with the application of simple logic.
US Treasury Bonds/Boxes/Wells Fargo BoxesThe remedy: I show potential victims the necessary newspaper clippings. I believe cap_miwa has been doing the same in this forum; kudos to him! If they still don't believe the newspapers, then I just tell them to contact the "Fed" directly and find out for themselves; that usually does the trick.
The result: 2 potential victims saved.
The Super 1992 counterfeit US Dollar scamThe scammer will claim to have counterfeit US currency in cut or uncut sheets. These fakes are virtually identical to the real thing, they say. They just require "traveling money" to bring these fake notes to the buyer.
The remedy: If the notes are so good, the scammer can simply use a few pieces to pay for his traveling expenses! When scammers hear this, they quickly fade away.
The result: 1 potential victim saved.
Fake gold/platinumI have had "gold" bars and sheets of "platinum" brought to me that are as big as a coffee table!
The remedy: educate the potential victims on how to perform tests on specific gravity.
The result: 2 potential victims saved.
Aside from the above there are the usual fake treasure maps, counterfeit coins and many others.
However, we can't win them all. There is a new scam that has "WW2 treasure signs" engraved in rock used to entice people into becoming treasure investors.
If anyone knows how to analyze and date such engravings, please let me know. Right now as I type, a group of foreigners in my town have already fallen victim to this scam. How do I know it is a scam? I know because those very same rocks are familiar to me, and did not have any engravings on them 6 months ago.
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"Gold rides an iron horse." (Old prospector Homefire)
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