Buying gold bar at inflated price

Mr. Tee had a friend who introduced an attractive investment scheme to him. The friend, whom he trusted, told him to invest in a gold bar. It promised to pay 2% interest every 3 months. After 12 months, the company promised to buy back the gold bar at its full value. This allowed him to earn a return of 8% for 12 months. There is also a certificate for him to take out the gold bar from a trusted third party if the company did not honour the buy back promise.

At the end of the period, the company did not buy back the investment. Mr. Tee took out the gold bar and found that he had paid for the gold bar at a price that is 50% higher than the real value of the gold. He was not aware that the price, quoted in $ per gram, was much higher than the price in USD per ounce that was quoted in the world market.

Fortunately for Mr. Tee, the value of the gold had appreciated, so he did was somewhat compensated. But, he could have made a larger gain by investing in gold directly, rather than investing in this scam. The friend who sold the investment to him was honest and did not realise the scam. She had also invested her own money and found out later about the scam.

There are many investment scams of this kind. They distract the investor with some gimmick, such as an attractive yield and a buy-back scheme. There is usually a catch that the investor was not aware of.