An Orillia man has lost several hundred dollars after buying what he believed was an authentic gold bar.
Darren Ceccanese has experience buying gold and other coins, but recently spent $1,200 on something worth twenty five cents.
“It’s not really the money, it’s just I feel violated and like a sucker,” said Ceccanese who contacted CTV Barrie to make sure no one else is victimized by this scam.
Ceccanese bought the phony gold bar from a man on the buy and sell Facebook page OrilliaJIJI. It was advertised as a 1 oz. gold bar.
The gold bar was wrapped, seemingly certified by the Royal Canadian Mint and was advertised for just below current market value.
He met the seller at a Tim Hortons in Barrie Tuesday night and soon after he realized the serial number didn’t match the one advertised.
The advertisement no longer exists, but Ceccanese has noticed similar ones and believes it’s the same seller.
"I just figured maybe he's desperate or he needs some money and he just wants to unload quickly," said Ceccanese.
He had the bar tested at EDI Refining which determined it was a fake.
"Our tests determined that it was gold plated copper," said Jason Stern.
By noon Thursday the sellers number was no longer in service. Police say there is very little they can do.
"From a police stand point we have to prove that that person selling it had the knowledge and intent that they were selling something fraudulent which can sometimes be very difficult to do," said Det. Const. Jason Marchildon with Barrie Police.
Ceccanese did receive what he was calling a receipt with his purchase, but it was actually an eBay screen grab taken just hours before their exchange.
The paper had a Barrie home marked as the shipping address but the name was different than who the seller claimed to be..
CTV Barrie went to that address where the home owner confirmed the receipt included his name and address, but he denied being involved with any gold bar purchase.
