Fake gold and silver coins and bars are being passed off as the real deal at local flea markets, scamming victims out of thousands of dollars.

Arrests have been made and more are pending in a multi-agency investigation into the sale of counterfeit gold and silver, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.

LCSO has partnered with Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, and the Huntsville Police Department after each department recorded cases of people being scammed out of money after buying fake gold and silver bars or coins. Other such cases have also popped up in Tennessee. Several suspects have been developed and some arrests have been made, said LCSO spokesman Deputy Stephen Young, though he didn’t specify how many arrests or who has been arrested.

The most recent cases involve transactions at flea markets, such as Dog Days in Ardmore and at a market in Lacon, located in Morgan County.

“Some of the unsuspecting buyers have been scammed out of thousands of dollars,” Young wrote in a press release. “At this time investigators are unsure where the counterfeit coins and bars are being produced. They suspect the counterfeits may also be purchased online.”

Many of the silver coins, bars, and gold bars are presented in sealed packaging, giving a cover for the fake metals since breaking the seal for testing does devalue an actual item. However, gold buyers

recommend if you make a large investment, that you break the seal and have one of the items tested, Young said.

“A simple weighing of the item or acid test can determine a counterfeit in seconds,” he wrote. “Always get identification from a potential seller. Most of the time sellers use aliases, leaving nothing but vague descriptions of themselves or their ‘company.’”

Anyone should be leery of a collection worth thousands of dollars being sold at a flea market, the deputy further advised. In the three local cases, elderly people have been the target, though law enforcement advises no one is immune to a scam.

“If you have recently purchased coins or bars that look like these, or any substantial collection, you may want to have them tested,” Young said. “If you have been scammed into buying a counterfeit collection, please contact your local law enforcement agency.”