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Metal detecting scam - you won't believe it
Salina Journal August 17th
The owners of a Salina store lost $45,000 to scam artists who convinced them that gold coins were buried under their store, then came up with an elaborate process the two would have to go through to retrieve the fortune.
Deputy Chief Mike Marshall said the two men showed the couple, Maria and Alejandro Ramos, a machine that supposedly beeped to indicate the presence of gold. They convinced the couple that the machine detected gold under the floor of the back room of their store, El Azteca De Oro, 427 S. Broadway.
Marshall said the couple allowed the men to use a jackhammer to get through the concrete, then dig into the soil. The scammers claimed to find a clay box, with a cross on the top and the year "1878" on the bottom. Inside was a letter, written on a leather sheet, that indicated that a treasure chest containing $70,000 in gold coins was buried one to two meters below the box. In order to keep their family from having bad luck for four generations, the letter offered these instructions: the Ramoses could not tell anyone of the discovery, they were to build a worship altar to the god Fray, they were to recite the rosary together for nine days and they were to place in the box money equivalent to the value of the gold coins, and leave it there for nine days.
The Ramoses and the men did as instructed, with the Ramoses contributing $45,000 in cash and the two men allegedly putting in $25,000.
The cash was placed in the box on the altar on July 27. The Ramoses and the two men were to start reciting the rosary together every day on July 28.
Marshall said the scammers called the Ramoses July 28 and indicated that they couldn't get to Salina.
The men never showed up again, and the Ramoses couldn't reach them. But Marshall said the couple recited the rosary every day, for nine days, as instructed.
On Aug. 11, Marshall said, they looked in the box, and all of the money was gone. The box had been filled with newspaper.
They notified police Wednesday.
Marshall said a similar scam was pulled recently at a Reno County store.
Salina Journal August 17th
Couple lose $45,000 in scam
The owners of a Salina store lost $45,000 to scam artists who convinced them that gold coins were buried under their store, then came up with an elaborate process the two would have to go through to retrieve the fortune.
Deputy Chief Mike Marshall said the two men showed the couple, Maria and Alejandro Ramos, a machine that supposedly beeped to indicate the presence of gold. They convinced the couple that the machine detected gold under the floor of the back room of their store, El Azteca De Oro, 427 S. Broadway.
Marshall said the couple allowed the men to use a jackhammer to get through the concrete, then dig into the soil. The scammers claimed to find a clay box, with a cross on the top and the year "1878" on the bottom. Inside was a letter, written on a leather sheet, that indicated that a treasure chest containing $70,000 in gold coins was buried one to two meters below the box. In order to keep their family from having bad luck for four generations, the letter offered these instructions: the Ramoses could not tell anyone of the discovery, they were to build a worship altar to the god Fray, they were to recite the rosary together for nine days and they were to place in the box money equivalent to the value of the gold coins, and leave it there for nine days.
The Ramoses and the men did as instructed, with the Ramoses contributing $45,000 in cash and the two men allegedly putting in $25,000.
The cash was placed in the box on the altar on July 27. The Ramoses and the two men were to start reciting the rosary together every day on July 28.
Marshall said the scammers called the Ramoses July 28 and indicated that they couldn't get to Salina.
The men never showed up again, and the Ramoses couldn't reach them. But Marshall said the couple recited the rosary every day, for nine days, as instructed.
On Aug. 11, Marshall said, they looked in the box, and all of the money was gone. The box had been filled with newspaper.
They notified police Wednesday.
Marshall said a similar scam was pulled recently at a Reno County store.
