Undercover detective disguised as an elderly victim in a $700,000 gold coin scam — the moment the scammer said the secret code, she handcuffed him

On May 1, 2026, a 20-year-old man arrived at a quiet parking lot in Rockford, Michigan, fully expecting to leave with a fortune. He believed he had successfully scammed a 79-year-old widow out of gold coins worth $700,000. However, as he approached the woman to collect the coins, he was in for a major surprise. The moment he uttered the secret code meant to complete the exchange, the deputy slapped handcuffs on him. In a video posted by WOOD TV8 (@WOODTV) on June 18, 2026, the stunned suspect can be seen realizing he had walked straight into a police sting.

How the scam unfolded

Well, the story began with a man reaching out to the woman, claiming that he worked for Social Security. He told the widow that her Social Security number was being used to promote terrorism, drug activity, and money laundering. Panicking after hearing this, the woman asked him for a solution. The man made her believe that buying $700,000 worth of gold coins and sending them to him would solve the issue at hand. And so, the woman worried that she might be blamed for all the alleged illegal activities from her account, decided to do as told.

'It just didn’t add up'

This led the woman to Grand Rapids Coins on 10 Mile Road in Algoma Township. There, she met the shop owner, Ben Soldaat, and told him that she needed 145 one-ounce American Gold Eagle coins. In that exact moment, Soldaat knew something was off. Soon, his suspicion grew even stronger, with the woman not knowing what she was buying and also never having bought this many coins before. Having dealt with scams like these, Soldaat decided to contact the Kent County Sheriff's Office before selling her the coins. "It just didn’t add up to me," he said.

Setting out the trap

As soon as Soldaat told them the deal, the officers knew it was a scam. Soon, they arrived at the scene and decided to set out a trap. One of the officers decided to head to the location where the lady was supposed to hand over the coins, posing as her, but not with real gold coins. Instead, the cops got a bit creative and decided to give the scammer some poetic justice by giving him chocolate gold coins.

In a video released by the sheriff's office, the undercover detective is seen asking the suspect, "Are you the agent?" while acting as if on a call with the other. After getting a nod from the culprit, the detective asked the man for a code. The suspect then told her a series of letters and numbers, after which she pretended to have second thoughts about handing him the box. "Do you want me to give him the box or do you want me to hold on?” What would you like me to do? OK, Eric," she asked on the phone one last time. She then got out of the car, pushed the man against the car, and cuffed him.

The culprit has been identified

Later, the police identified the culprit as 20-year-old Yug Chauhan. He was charged with two 20-year felonies. Moreover, records show Chauhan being told by someone called "Bhawsh" to go from Illinois to West Michigan to pick up the gold from the woman. Nonetheless, although this victim, who later acknowledged that she shouldn't have been tricked this easily, was able to escape this attempted fraud without losing any money, scams like these against the elderly remain a huge problem throughout the country. 

In fact, about four in 10 Americans aged 50 or above have fallen prey to a scam at least once in their life, according to a survey held by AARP. This number is significantly higher than the 35% people aged between 18 and 49 reporting having been victims of scams. What's concerning is that these instances are only increasing with time, and according to the FBI 2025IC3 Annual Report, people who were aged 60 or above lost a staggering $7.7 billion, a insanse 60% increase from 2024. 

Soldaat deserves an award

People thank Soldaat for stepping up and trusting his instinct. @SaKOTR wrote, "Glad that gold shop guy had the decency to report instead of selling her the gold." Meanwhile, @Ghost1000-x commented, "Good for the gold dealer who thought instead of just reacting. He saved her and helped get one more thief off our streets. I hope the City gives the man an award."

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