Golden Time Jewellers owner Vicken Danayan is warning people about buying gold from strangers.
He's seen a huge influx of customers showing up to his store in Windsor, Ont's Devonshire Mall to sell gold jewellery in recent weeks only to find out they've been duped.
Danayan says a recent story from an elderly couple prompted him to post a warning on social media.
"They said they had somebody approach them in traffic near the onramp [to the E.C. Row Expressway] off of Dougall Road. The person told them that their car broke down and they needed some gas money so they would give them their gold as collateral at a really cheap price," he says.
Danayan says you never know what you're getting when buying gold off the street.
"It breaks my heart that people are getting taken advantage of like this and I don't want this to happen to anyone else," he says. "If it's too good to be true and somebody is trying to sell you gold off the streets, do not buy it or get it tested before you purchase the gold."
When in doubt, Danayan says go to a professional to verify what's being sold.
"I can tell from a mile away from the colour, the weight and the look of it if it's real or fake, but to the general public it looks pretty convincing and they do have the hallmark stamp of 10K, 14K gold," he added.
Danayan says he will be reaching out to his fellow jewellers to make them aware of the trend moving forward.
— with files form AM800's Rob Hindi.