Scams for Gold

Stay up late enough at night watching cable and you’re bound to see the ads, the ones featuring broke '80s rapper M.C. Hammer for a company that will help you convert your gold to cash.

But a Congressman says Cash4Gold is underpaying the people who sell it gold, and he wants a law regulating the company and others like it. “They are playing people in tough times,” Representative Anthony Weiner told the New York Post.

Frank Poindexter of Manhattan told NBC New York that he sent the company $200 worth of gold and got a check back for 15 cents.

"What our research found is that the quotes that are given only amount to 11 to 29 percent of what a piece of gold jewelry is actually worth," Weiner said.

Chuck Bell, program director of Consumers Union, said consumers were better off looking for a reputable jeweler if they’re looking to turn their trinkets or heirlooms into cash.

"Those companies have to pay for the advertising. And so, typically, consumers are gonna get a much less attractive deal than if they took the metal to a reputable jeweler," he said of companies like Cash4Gold.

Weiner wants a law that will give consumers more time to return checks from the gold-buying companies and get their gold back.

Now, the Post reports, Cash4Gold gives sellers 12 days from the time a check is cut to return that check and get their gold back.