{"id":617220,"date":"2026-06-11T23:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=617220"},"modified":"2026-06-11T23:40:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T23:40:00","slug":"cops-bust-india-based-gold-scam-before-widow-loses-700k-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=617220","title":{"rendered":"Cops Bust India-Based Gold Scam Before Widow Loses $700K"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden\">Cops Bust India-Based Gold Scam Before Widow Loses $700K<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<p>A widow who was told her Social Security funds were being used to support terrorism nearly lost $700,000 in a gold scam, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.woodtv.com\/news\/target-8\/accused-scammer-gets-chocolate-coins-not-700000-in-gold\/\">WOOD ABC 8<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The fraudsters convinced her to buy gold, but a suspicious coin dealer alerted authorities before the transaction could be completed.\u00a0Ben Soldaat, owner of Grand Rapids Coins, noticed several red flags. The woman seemed confused, unusually urgent, and showed little interest in the gold itself. Concerned she was being manipulated, he contacted the Kent County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators learned the woman had been told by a caller posing as a Social Security agent that criminals were using her account for terrorism, drug trafficking, and money laundering. She was instructed to buy gold so law enforcement could supposedly track the offenders.<\/p>\n<p><a data-image-external-href=\"\" data-image-href=\"\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/Screenshot%202026-06-11%20at%2007.47.37.jpg?itok=Iupt4VQ-\" data-link-option=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.zerohedge.com\/s3\/files\/inline-images\/Screenshot%202026-06-11%20at%2007.47.37.jpg?itok=Iupt4VQ-\"><\/a><\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\" class=\"caption caption-img inline-images image-style-inline-images\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"7a82b09f-ee6b-4d6c-800d-aafc4b4077a9\" data-responsive-image-style=\"inline_images\" height=\"637\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/Screenshot%202026-06-11%20at%2007.47.37.jpg?itok=Iupt4VQ-\" width=\"500\" \/><figcaption>Yug Chauhan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Working with detectives, authorities set up a sting operation. <em><strong>Instead of real gold, an undercover officer posing as the woman delivered a package of chocolate gold coins to the courier sent to collect it.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.woodtv.com\/news\/target-8\/accused-scammer-gets-chocolate-coins-not-700000-in-gold\/\">report says<\/a> that the courier, 20-year-old Yug Chauhan of Illinois, was arrested and charged with false pretenses over $100,000 and using a computer to commit a crime\u2014both 20-year felonies.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Investigators believe the scam originated in India and are continuing to pursue those behind it.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Officials say gold-related scams targeting seniors are becoming increasingly common nationwide, often involving callers who impersonate government agents. They stress that family members and businesses play a critical role in spotting warning signs before victims lose their savings.<\/p>\n<p>The targeted woman ultimately recovered her money and later thanked Soldaat for intervening. She hopes her experience serves as a warning to others, noting that many scam victims are not as fortunate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>      <span class=\"field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden\"><a title=\"View user profile.\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.zerohedge.com\/users\/tyler-durden\" lang=\"\" class=\"username\" xml:lang=\"\">Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden\">Thu, 06\/11\/2026 &#8211; 19:40<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.zerohedge.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/Screenshot%202026-06-11%20at%2007.47.37.jpg?itok=Iupt4VQ-\" title=\"Cops Bust India-Based Gold Scam Before Widow Loses $700K\" \/><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cops Bust India-Based Gold Scam Before Widow Loses $700K A widow who was told her Social Security funds were being used to support terrorism nearly lost $700,000 in a gold scam, according to WOOD ABC 8.\u00a0\u00a0 The fraudsters convinced her to buy gold, but a suspicious coin dealer alerted authorities before the transaction could be&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=617220\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Cops Bust India-Based Gold Scam Before Widow Loses $700K<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":617206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19,10,21,12,11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-617220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancel-culture","category-censorship","category-civil-liberties","category-election-integrity","category-equal-justice","category-free-speech","category-religious-freedom","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=617220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/617206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=617220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=617220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=617220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}