Buyer Beware – Gold IRA Review Scam

We have spent years consoling clients that found us AFTER they funded their gold IRA.  Many of them had fallen victim to the most common Gold IRA Review Scam in the market, believing that they had found credible Gold IRA review sites, only to find that these “reviews” were empty copied content from a gold dealer, by people who have never owned a precious metals IRA.  Worse yet, they often found that they landed with a dealer that sold them overpriced gold and silver for their precious metals IRA, the very dealer that was rated #1 in the “reviews”.

If you Google “gold IRA reviews” you will be flooded with over 35,000 websites that are “reviewing or ranking” gold IRA companies.  Virtually all of these sites are generated as a result of a HIGH compensation affiliate program being sponsored by a precious metals firm(s).

Why does that matter?  Because these “reviews” are simply empty shells, generated by non-IRA owners to get you to click through to one of the gold IRA companies that ranks high on Google, and fund your precious metals IRA through them.  These “review” sites all host similar, repetitive content, that “ranks” or “rates” the precious metals firms without any interaction or research required as it relates to the actual precious metals firms themselves.

Here is an example we stumbled across, of a video that instructs anyone on how to implement a website to take advantage of a precious metals IRA affilate program:

Why are these affiliate programs gaining so much traction?  Simply due to the commission payout on the amount you invest in your precious metals IRA.  Here is the commission structure for one of the affiliate programs (in the words of an actual affiliate for one of these programs):

  • For the total amount invested, the affiliate will get 3% of the amount as a commission. (This is where it gets serious!  Example: If your lead invests $100,000, you get a $3,000 commission! You will be rewarded every time your lead invests.)
  • For the total amount invested by any of your sub-affiliates, you will get 2% of the amount as a commission. The sub-affiliates are the individuals you have referred.  (This is like an Multi-Level Marketing  structure in which the site owner gets paid if others link in to their site and then click through to the precious metals firm’s site.)
  • You will get $30 cash for every individual who orders an investment kit from your website.
  • You will get $30 cash for every individual who uses your dedicated phone number (1-800 numbers) and spends more than 10 minutes talking to a representative at the precious metals firm.

It should be obvious that the precious metals dealer is padding the cost of their gold and silver products (or worse yet, trying to sell you high premium proof coins for your IRA), in order to pay out these commissions around the country.

Don’t overpay for your gold and silver in your IRA.  Work with a trusted dealer that deals transparently with the public.  A precious metals dealer should be able to stand on the merit of REAL client reviews, not paid, unknown, uneducated and empty “testimonials” or “rankings”!

A precious metals dealer should not make any more money on the gold or silver they sell you for your IRA, than they would if you had walked in to their office to purchase it and take it home.  We don’t make money on depository storage, we don’t take a kick-back from a custodian, we simply advise you on the best low premium metals for your IRA, sell them to you and ship to your chosen depository for IRA storage.

We would be happy to talk you through the precious metals IRA process, as we are both precious metals IRA owners, as well as precious metals IRA dealers.  Click here for a credible explanation on the precious metals IRA process.