Are there Fake gold bars in Malaysia?

One has to be careful these days with the number of counterfeit products out there in the market. Fake eggs, fake milk powder, among others, and now even fake gold bars. Last month, fake gold bars were discovered in Manhattan, New York, and it has been reported that they have even made their way to England.

A customer in New York bought some gold bars and heard that counterfeit gold bars have been going around so he drilled into several only to find tungsten in them. The procedure was so professionally done that it is believed that an international ring could be involved.

Here, a 10-ounce gold bar costing nearly $18,000 turned out to be a counterfeit valued at just $3,600. It's filled with tungsten which weighs nearly the same as gold but costs just over a dollar an ounce.

From Yahoo..

"I really got sick. It's a big amount of money and I could not believe that somebody was so professional and clever, it's perfect," Fadl, the customer said.

Here's why even the reputable merchant got fooled, as explained by Fox:

What makes it so devious is a real gold bar is purchased with the serial numbers and papers, then it is hollowed out, the gold is sold, the tungsten is put in, then the bar is closed up. That is a sophisticated operation.

The sophisticated operation may be global in scope: Gold bars filled with tungsten showed up in England earlier this year. The Secret Service is investigating the counterfeits in New York.

So the next time you go to pick up some gold bars, you may want to bring along your drill.


Makes you wonder whether these fake gold bars have come to Malaysian shores, doesn't it?


Image source: Video grab from Yahoo!