A gold bar courier scam targeting seniors in San Diego County created a financial challenge for a local precious metals retailer. The retailer owner says his business lost access to its Bank of America account after two customers were defrauded. Kyle Horn, owner of San Diego-based Bullion Standar d, says hundreds of thousands of dollars in transactions were temporarily placed on hold after two customers fell victim to the scam. Although those holds were eventually lifted, Horn says Bank of America later permanently closed his business account and froze more than $50,000. Kyle Horn, owner of Bullion Standard, explains his frustration with his bank after it charged back and later returned to his account nearly half a million dollars. Horn, who says his online precious metals business generates more than $100 million in annual sales, has since filed a lawsuit against Bank of America. How the gold bar scam works The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office describes the gold bar scam as a fast-growing scheme targeting seniors that can have financially devastating consequences. According to the District Attorney’s office, the scam typically begins with a pop-up alert on a victim’s computer warning that their device has been hacked. Someone posing as a government official then contacts the victim, claiming criminals have compromised their bank accounts. To supposedly protect their money, victims are instructed to purchase gold bars. They’re then told a courier will collect the gold for safekeeping while an investigation continues. Instead, the gold disappears with the scammers. In early 2025, two Bullion Standard customers fell victim to the scheme after making high-dollar purchases from the retailer. Horn says his company had no involvement in the fraud but soon found itself facing serious financial consequences. Hundreds of thousands of dollars placed on hold Horn says he first realized something was wrong when he received an unexpected alert about his company’s Bank of America account. “I wake up to a text message alert on my phone for this account notifying me that the balances dropped below $100 and I thought well, that’s quite impossible,” Horn said. When he checked the account, the situation was even worse than he initially thought, as the balance was way below $100. “Negative $456,000, negative pending debit. So naturally, panic ensues,” he said. According to Horn, Bank of America sent letters notifying him that holds had been placed on six purchases involving the two customers. The notices indicated that the transactions had been reported as unauthorized and were under investigation. “So from March 11th until March 17th, we were essentially shut out of business,” Horn said. He added the bank eventually resolved the pending debits and released the money back to his account. “And those pending debits were ultimately resolved and Bank of America acknowledged that these seniors, your two customers, they were defrauded, but they were not defrauded by you. They were defrauded by a third party,” he said. But the resolution was short-lived. Bank of America closes business account Just weeks after the disputed funds were released back to Bullion Standard, Horn received another notice from Bank of America. This time, the bank informed him that his business account had been permanently closed. The notice also indicated that the remaining funds would be frozen while the bank reviewed and validated their source. Horn says the account held more than $50,000 at the time. The disruption came as his competitors continued making sales, leaving Horn frustrated over the impact on his business. “So while this was all going back, we were watching our competitors just rake in the sales. And all we could do was sit back and just watch it all burn to the ground,” Horn said. Horn subsequently filed a lawsuit against Bank of America. The bank told NBC 7 Responds that the ongoing litigation had taken precedence over its investigation, preventing further action on the closed account. In a statement, Bank of America defended its account review and closure practices. “We take account decisions seriously and work to resolve client matters as quickly as possible for all parties involved. However, where warranted, accounts are closed based on various factors such as repeated fraud complaints as per our deposit account agreement.” Business takes new steps to protect customers Horn says he empathizes with seniors who lose their savings to gold bar scams but believes retailers face significant challenges identifying fraud involving third parties. “Because it’s a third-party fraud. We’re trying to identify a situation where a legitimate transaction becomes illegitimate at some point in the future at the hands of a third party,” Horn said. Bullion Standard has since added warnings about gold bar scams to its customer contracts. Horn says the company has also implemented additional precautions when seniors make large purchases of precious metals. “We have stepped in when we identify, if we have a senior citizen who’s making that larger format purchase and we’ll ask questions,” Horn said. “Thankfully we haven’t had this happen again.” Warning signs of a gold bar scam Authorities warn that anyone contacted by a stranger who instructs them to purchase gold to protect their money could be the target of a scam. That warning applies regardless of whether the person claims to represent a government agency or offers another explanation for why the gold must be purchased. As the scheme continues affecting San Diego County residents, recognizing these warning signs could help prevent more people from losing their savings. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less