Tungsten-Core Fake Gold Bar Scam: Roaming Gangs Use Gold-Plated Tungsten Jewelry to Defraud Victims of Real Gold Payments

Who Gets Targeted

The victimized groups are primarily small and medium-sized jewelry store owners, operators of gold recycling businesses, and pawnshop owners in urgent need of quick liquidity. Most of them rely on personal experience to judge the authenticity of gold, lack professional testing equipment, and easily lower their guard when facing sales pitches about "urgent need for money, selling at a low price." Some practitioners are tempted by acquisition price differentials below market value, harboring a psychological bet that "picking up a bargain" can yield quick money, only to fall into traps preset by the gangs, suffering losses ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan and losing everything.

骗局怎么运作

• The gang bulk-purchases tungsten-core fake gold bars or gold bracelets from illegal channels. The outer layer of these fakes is electroplated or wrapped with real gold, while the inner core is high-density metallic tungsten, with a weight close to that of real gold. The cost of a single fake piece is only tens to hundreds of yuan, yet it can be sold at the price of tens of thousands of yuan worth of real gold.
• Before committing the crime, the gang conducts reconnaissance, selecting street-side jewelry stores or recycling shops with loose management and no professional testing equipment such as spectrometers. They disguise themselves as sellers in urgent need of cash turnover, preparing identity documents in advance along with vague stories about "ancestral goldware" or "corporate debt-settlement gold bars" to enhance credibility.
• During the transaction, the gang proactively suggests "cutting open on the spot for inspection," but only cuts open the gold-plated layer on one corner of the gold bar, exposing a briefly visible golden inner wall. Since the actual tungsten core color is similar to gold, if the store owner relies solely on visual observation or simple burning, they can easily misjudge it as solid gold.
• To accelerate the transaction, the gang "reluctantly unloads" at 5% to 10% below market price, urging the store owner to "transact in cash and leave immediately" to create an atmosphere of rushing to snap up the deal. At the same time, they arrange accomplices to keep watch outside the store, and once successful, immediately drive away to the next city to continue committing crimes.
• Some gangs also use the pretext of "trade-in" to exchange fake gold bracelets for real gold jewelry, and then demand refunds on the spot under the excuse of "making up the price difference," exploiting the store clerk's panicked state of mind in a rush to recover losses to commit secondary fraud. Once successful, they quickly vanish, accumulating over 40 roaming offenses nationwide.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 The seller proactively proposes selling real gold at a low price, yet refuses to go to a formal testing institution to issue a certificate, willing only to undergo simple testing inside the shop.
• 🚩 The gold bar or bracelet is abnormally heavy, with a density significantly higher than standard gold jewelry of the same volume, and when cut open, the internal texture is uneven, revealing grayish-silver or dark particles.
• 🚩 Insisting that the store owner only "cut a small corner" or "burn one end," rushing the entire transaction process without being willing to wait for cooling or complete cutting.
• 🚩 Requesting cash or real-time transfer to a personal account at checkout, where the payee is not the same person as the one providing the identification documents, and contact methods such as WeChat are virtual numbers.
• 🚩 The gang travels in a group of multiple people, with one person responsible for negotiation while others look around the entrance or make frequent phone calls. As soon as the transaction is successful, they leave immediately by car without issuing invoices or writing receipts.

真实案例

• In August 2026, the police in Ningbo, Zhejiang announced the crackdown on a "gold-wrapped tungsten" fake jewelry mortgage fraud case. A 9-person gang committed over 40 roaming crimes across multiple regions involving a huge amount of money. The police seized a large number of fake gold bracelets and getaway vehicles on the spot, and relevant case details were publicly reported by official media such as Ningbo Net. (Source: [http://news.cnnb.com.cn/system/2026/08/12/030803063.shtml](http://news.cnnb.com.cn/system/2026/08/12/030803063.shtml))
• In June 2026, the police in Bazhong, Sichuan cracked a cross-province series of fake gold fraud cases spanning six provinces and municipalities, tearing open the dark curtain of the "gold-wrapped tungsten" scam. The gang sold fake gold bars costing only 38.8 yuan for 58,000 yuan, defrauding multiple jewelry businesses. Sichuan Legal Daily published a special disclosure on this case. (Source: [https://www.scfzbs.com/sz/202606/83267293.html](https://www.scfzbs.com/sz/202606/83267293.html))
• In May 2026, a jewelry store owner in Liaocheng, Shandong fell victim to a "gold-wrapped tungsten" scam. The store clerk insisted on burning the gold bracelet with a high-temperature fire, causing the fake product to turn black instantly. The store owner smartly captured the suspect on the spot and called the police. Qilu Net reported the details of the case, reminding practitioners to actively verify. (Source: [https://news.iqilu.com/shandong/yuanchuang/2026/0527/5917510.shtml](https://news.iqilu.com/shandong/yuanchuang/2026/0527/5917510.shtml))

Official Stance

• In April 2026, CCTV's "On-the-Hour Finance" program exposed the "adulterated gold" industry chain, reminding jewelry stores nationwide to be alert to fake gold jewelry that cannot be identified by the naked eye. Multiple media outlets including Sina Finance reposted and reported on it.
• In August 2026, the Ningbo police released a notification on the "gold-wrapped tungsten" fake jewelry case through official news channels, reminding the pawn industry to strengthen the equipment of testing facilities and stay alert to roaming suspicious sellers.
• In June 2026, the Bazhong Municipal Public Security Bureau in Sichuan, together with the Legal Sichuan client, released a notification on the solution of the cross-province series of fake gold cases, calling on jewelry stores to immediately call the police for verification when encountering low-priced gold dumping.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Stores must be equipped with spectrometers or density detectors to conduct destructive cutting inspections on every piece of acquired gold jewelry. Do not just cut the surface; the inner core material must be verified.
• ✅ When encountering unfamiliar sellers dumping goods at low prices or in urgent need of cash, insist on asking them for proof of legitimate origin and a copy of their identity card, and call the merchant's phone number via networked verification on the spot.
• ✅ Insist on transfer rather than cash during transactions, and retain full-length surveillance footage. Continuously burn the item with a high-temperature flame gun inside the store for at least 30 seconds before completing the transaction to observe whether there is color change, smoke, or cracking.
• ✅ Once suspected fake gold is discovered, immediately buy time under the excuse of "needing to mobilize more funds," while secretly contacting surrounding merchants or calling 110. Avoid direct conflict with the gang and wait for the police to arrive and handle the situation.