THE GOLD YOU TRUST | The book about fraud & counterfeiting with gold | Mag. Walter Hell-Höflinger

THE GOLD YOU TRUST

The book about fraud & counterfeiting with gold | Mag. Walter Hell-Höflinger

"How do I know that this. Gold is real?" is one of the most frequent questions asked by customers in the profession of a precious metal dealer. This question should not be taken personally, because people buy cars and apartments more often than they buy gold. This results in a more than understandable uncertainty, which we dealers, but also all manufacturers, try to counter with security features on and around the precious metal products and turn into trust in the product. However, many methods of security features have been overtaken by rapidly developing technology, which is now also available to counterfeiters at very low cost.

Over the last few decades, forgeries have been created down to the smallest detail, which have not only deceived laymen, but also us dealers. But a deceived dealer learns and no longer falls for it, a deceived customer is often not only robbed of his savings, but has often also lost confidence in gold or does not dare to buy it again - a lost customer. That is why it is extremely important for us precious metal dealers, especially those who also trade heavily in circulating goods bought back by customers, to keep up to date with the current status of counterfeiting and to be up to date with the available testing equipment. Over the last decade, I have come across many fraudsters, scams and counterfeits, which I have painstakingly collected and evaluated. I would now like to share this wealth of experience with all interested buyers of precious metals, but also with colleagues in the industry, because the more we all know and uncover fakes, the safer the market, and ultimately the customer, will be.

Walter Hell-Höflinger is a sworn and court-certified expert for precious metals and a European Gemmologist (FEEG).