Even AMDL Lao Chio also falling for CECA XXR scammer de woh

[k1976]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Told her Social Security funds were being used to support terrorism, a widow was directed to buy $700,000 in gold — but an alert store owner intervened before crooks could make off with her money, records show.

Instead, a young man reportedly sent to West Michigan from Illinois to fetch the gold ended up with a bag of chocolate coins and a pair of 20-year felonies.

“They didn’t know they were getting chocolate gold coins,” said Ben Soldaat, owner of Grand Rapids Coins, who alerted authorities to the suspected scam in early May.

“It just didn’t add up to me and I’ve run into a few (scams) before in the past,” said Soldaat, who opened his Algoma Township business in 2020.

Ben Soldaat, the owner of Grand Rapids Coins, spotted a gold coin scam.
Scams targeting elderly people are increasing, with more cases centered around requests for gold, officials say. Kent County has had at least two cases in as many months. Often, the fraudsters pose as members of law enforcement or government agencies like the Social Security Administration.

West Michigan woman out $4,000 in Facebook canary scam
The victim in this case told News 8 the person who called her had a “very good voice” and said that her Social Security number was being used to promote terrorism, drug activity and money laundering.


“And somehow he convinced me,” said the woman, who lives in Ottawa County. “It’s really kind of devastating to realize how easily I was fooled by these fraudsters.”

A similar case in Ada Township led to the weekend arrests of two people from out of state. They’re accused of posing as federal agents and trying to get an elderly couple to convert $250,000 into gold, court records show. They “admitted to committing similar crimes throughout the Midwest over the past four months,” court records show.

Other recent cases include a multimillion-dollar gold scam targeting elderly people across Texas involving Canadian gold maple leaf coins, law enforcement there reported.

“It’s a nationwide trend,” Kent County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Scott Dietrich said. “A lot of times, these elderly people are convinced the scam is real.


“It is going to take family members and businesses to step in early and protect those vulnerable adults from losing all their money,” he continued.

Local investigators say they believe the early May scam was sourced out of India. The one person charged, 20-year-old Yug B. Chauhan, has a home address in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Chauhan is locked up in the Kent County jail with a $100,000 bond and a hold from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 

[k1976]

Cops Bust India-Based Gold Scam Before Widow Loses $700K​

BY TYLER DURDEN
FRIDAY, JUN 12, 2026 - 07:40 AM
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.

The fraudsters convinced her to buy gold, but a suspicious coin dealer alerted authorities before the transaction could be completed. Ben 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’s Office.

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.

Yug Chauhan
Working with detectives, authorities set up a sting operation. 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.

The report says 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—both 20-year felonies.