Regulatory group warns of gold scams

August 24, 2011 | 12:13pm

First came the boom. Then came the scams. Now comes the warning.

Individuals who have become enamored of gold amid the dramatic rise in the price of the precious metal should be on the lookout for investment traps hatched by con artists, according a warning issued Wednesday by a financial-industry regulatory group.

As the price of gold pushed to a series of record highs this year, various scams have been hatched to lure unsophisticated small investors, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said in a warning posted on its website.

“Even a cursory Internet search will pull up numerous websites, blog posts, investment newsletters and social media posts (including YouTube videos and Tweets) devoted to the topic of investing in gold,â€