Door-to-door offer to clean or polish gold jewellery
Strangers at the door offer to clean or polish your gold for a small fee, then switch it or dissolve part of it in a chemical liquid.
Community reports: 0
How it works
- Two or more people come to the door selling a cleaning powder or liquid, and first polish a brass or copper vessel to show how well it works.
- They then ask for your gold chain, bangles or other jewellery, and dip it in a liquid that can dissolve some of the gold, or slip it into a box or paper packet.
- You are told not to open the packet or touch the jewellery for some minutes or hours, and by then they have left with your gold, or the piece weighs less than before.
What it looks like
Example messages. Numbers and links are masked.
Aunty, we are giving a free demo of our polish powder. See, this old brass lamp is shining like new. Give your chain, it will look like new gold in 2 minutes.
Keep this packet closed for one hour, then wash it with water. If you open it early, the shine will go.
Red flags
- Strangers offering to polish gold at the door
- Demo on brass first, then they ask for gold
- Jewellery dipped in a liquid you cannot check
- Told not to open the packet for a while
- In a hurry to leave
The one question to ask
Would you hand your gold to strangers at the door, when a jeweller you know can clean it in front of you?
Already paid or shared details?
Call 112 or your local police at once, and give the time, the direction they went and a description of the people and any vehicle. Keep the box, packet or liquid they left without washing it, and ask neighbours for any CCTV footage. Have the jewellery weighed by a jeweller you know, so you can tell the police how much is missing.
1930 · cybercrime.gov.in
Also seen as
- "Free" utensil polishing that leads to a request for gold
- Fake police asking you to remove jewellery "for safety"