Gold IRA Scams: The Red Flags Regulators Keep Finding

A gold IRA is a legal kind of retirement account that the tax code has allowed for decades. A fair deal is easy to recognize once you know its parts: a price you can check against the market, a premium in writing, and a custodian and depository you can call yourself. The cases regulators have brought show what the opposite looks like, and nearly all of them come down to price.

Is a gold IRA a scam?

No, it's a legal account. The IRS lets an IRA hold certain gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and bars, as long as a bank or approved trustee keeps possession of the metal. Its page on collectibles in retirement accounts spells out the exception. How a gold IRA works covers the basics.

Why does the question come up at all? A rollover moves a large sum at once, and the dealer sets the price of the metal. The people selling it are salespeople, too: the CFTC notes that precious metals dealers are typically paid commissions on what they sell. A buyer who knows that and asks for prices in writing is in a strong position.

In March 2024 the CFTC, FINRA, and the state securities regulators' association NASAA began a joint effort to warn retirees about precious metals fraud. Their release says CFTC cases over the prior decade alleged more than $500 million in overpriced metals sold by fraudulent dealers.

So it pays to know what a fair deal looks like, and what its opposite looks like.

What a fair deal looks like

It's uneventful. That's how you know.

• You called them, or you asked for information and they followed up without pushing.
• You got the price, the spot price at that moment, and the buyback price, by email.
• The rep sold you the common bullion you asked for.
• You were told who the custodian and depository are, and you could reach both.
• Money moved from your old plan to the new IRA custodian. Never to a salesperson.
• Nobody minded when you said you'd think it over and talk to your spouse or accountant.

Say a rep quotes you a silver coin at $48 when spot silver is $32. Run it: 48 divided by 32 is 1.5, a 50% markup. The CFTC's advisory puts bullion premiums at 5 percent to 10 percent, so you'd ask why, and get a second quote.

The warning signs, from real cases

Each case below is the opposite of one line on that list. We describe each one the way the agency's own release does and link to it, and we've left the defendants' names to those releases. Where a case was only at the complaint stage, we say "alleged."

Warning sign 1: A premium far above what you were told

This is the main one. It runs through the cases below.

The CFTC and 30 state regulators sued a California dealer that sold silver coins to people using retirement savings. The consent order entered in 2023 found that customers paid an average markup of 71% on silver coins, while their agreements stated a maximum of 23%. About 450 customers had sent in roughly $68 million. In November 2025 the CFTC announced a final judgment ordering $25.6 million in restitution and a $25.6 million penalty.

In a separate 2023 case, the SEC charged another California company and three of its people. The complaint said investors were told the markup on gold and silver coins would be 1 to 5 percent, and were charged as much as 130 percent. A year later the SEC announced a final consent judgment for more than $76.4 million in disgorgement, interest, and penalties. The defendants agreed to it without admitting or denying the allegations.

A 71% markup means that for every $100,000 sent, the customer got metal worth about $58,500.

What to do: ask for the markup over spot as a percentage, in writing, for each product. Then ask what the dealer would pay to buy it back today. The gap between those two prices is your real cost. Our fee guide shows what ordinary premiums and published fees look like.

Warning sign 2: "Rare," "exclusive," or "semi-numismatic" coins

A plain bullion coin has a price you can check in a minute. A "limited mintage" coin doesn't, which makes its price harder to judge.

In 2020 the CFTC and 30 states charged a group of Los Angeles dealers. The complaint alleged they took in more than $185 million from at least 1,600 people, over $140 million of it retirement savings, and sold bullion at prices 100 to 300 percent above the prevailing market price. It alleged customers were falsely told the metal was rare and carried a premium far above its melt value.

The CFTC's advisory on gold and silver schemes adds that customers who need to sell collectible coins are often forced back to the same dealer, which buys them at a fraction of the original price.

What to do: if you asked about bullion and the conversation turns to a special coin, ask why, and ask for the markup on both. Coins vs. bullion explains the difference.

Warning sign 3: A pitch built on fear

The dealer in the CFTC case above was also sued by the SEC. In that 2022 complaint, the SEC alleged that sales agents worked from scripts. Investors were told the market was going to crash and that their retirement accounts would be frozen under a new "unpublicized" law.

A line like that has one job: to make you act before you check.

The FTC describes the same pattern in its page on investment scams: whether the market is up or down, the seller says there's no better time than now. A good company gives you time. Our guide to gold and the dollar looks at the facts behind the dollar version of that pitch.

Warning sign 4: Credentials you can't confirm

The same SEC complaint alleged the company presented itself as a full-service investment firm with offices in London, New York City, and Beverly Hills and $11 billion in assets under management. According to the SEC, the owner actually ran it from a small leased office in Woodland Hills, California.

The joint 2024 warning lists other trust-builders used in these schemes: fake celebrity endorsements, appeals to political or religious beliefs, and social media groups.

Check the claims yourself. Our guide to checking a gold IRA company's background goes through each free lookup.

Warning sign 5: "The custodian approved it"

A dealer may point to the IRA custodian as proof the deal is sound. The custodian's job is narrower than that.

The SEC and NASAA say so directly in their investor alert on self-directed IRAs. Custodians are responsible only for holding and administering the assets. They generally don't evaluate the quality or legitimacy of an investment or its promoters. The alert also warns that the value on a self-directed IRA statement may be the original purchase price or a figure supplied by the promoter, which may not be what the asset would sell for.

That last part matters for metals. A statement showing what you paid tells you nothing about what the coins would bring today. Ask the custodian how it values metal on your statement. Custodian vs. dealer explains who does what.

Warning sign 6: Buying with borrowed money

Some dealers offer to "finance" a purchase: you put down 20 to 25 percent and they lend you the rest. The CFTC's advisory says these leveraged deals commonly carry high interest charges and can violate the Commodity Exchange Act. Its precious metals fraud page says it's illegal for dealers to offer leveraged or financed purchases unless the metal is delivered within 28 days, and describes dealers who sold financing and insurance and never bought any metal.

A gold IRA buys metal outright with money already in the account. If borrowing comes up, stop there.

Warning sign 7: Metal you can't locate

Outright non-delivery is less common than overpricing. It does happen. In 2016 the FTC charged a gold and silver seller, alleging it took payment and failed to deliver. Orders ran from $1,000 to $300,000, and the FTC said many buyers used retirement savings. The CFTC has also described dealers charging storage fees for vaults that didn't exist.

In a real gold IRA, you get the depository's name and location, and the custodian's statement lists your metal. If either is missing, ask until you have it. Our guide to gold IRA storage has the questions.

Warning sign 8: "Keep your IRA gold at home"

This one is a tax trap more than a theft. Promoters have sold "home storage" or "checkbook" gold IRAs where you keep the coins yourself. In McNulty v. Commissioner (2021), the U.S. Tax Court held that an owner who kept her IRA's coins in a home safe had taken taxable distributions, and it upheld penalties.

How to report a problem

Report it even if you're embarrassed, and even if the amount seems small. Regulators can only act on what they hear about.

1. CFTC. File at cftc.gov/complaint or call 866-366-2382. The CFTC brought two of the cases described above.
2. Your state securities regulator. Find it through NASAA's directory. State regulators joined both CFTC cases above.
3. Your state attorney general's consumer protection office.
4. FTC. ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
5. SEC, if someone acted as an investment adviser or had you sell securities to buy the metal: sec.gov/tcr.
6. FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors: 844-574-3577, if you'd like to talk it through with a person first.

Before you call, gather the invoice, your custodian statements, any emails or texts, and notes on what you were told and when.

Reporting doesn't guarantee you'll get money back. In the cases above, restitution was ordered years after the sales.

Ready to compare companies? Start with ten questions to ask any gold IRA company, and our list of pros and cons covers the account itself.

Common questions

Is a gold IRA legitimate?

Yes. It's a self-directed IRA that holds metal the tax code allows, stored by the custodian's depository. The account type is legal. What you control is the price you pay and who you buy from.

What's the most common gold IRA scam?

Overpricing. In several federal cases, dealers charged markups far above what they had told customers, often on silver or "special" coins, so buyers paid far more than the metal was worth.

How do I know if I overpaid?

Multiply the spot price on your purchase date by the ounces of metal you received and compare that with what you paid. Then ask your dealer, and one other dealer, what they'd pay for it today.

Does the IRS approve gold IRA companies?

The IRS approves non-bank trustees and custodians to hold IRA assets. It doesn't approve or endorse dealers, so "IRS-approved" in an ad isn't a sign of quality.

We base our guides on primary sources such as the IRS, the Department of Labor, and federal regulators. Read our editorial policy. Spot an error? Tell us.