How Safe Is Goldmoney.com?

[blackbear]

Hi all, I'm considering signing up and buying some gold through goldmoney.com, however as everything that's not in your hands and in the case of a SHTF scenario (which is what gold is all about for me) with unpredictable events and all that... I know some of you guys use it, do you feel safe that their site won't just disappear one day and their phones be permanently engaged??

Some people have a point about this, see http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/egold.html, redirected from http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/goldmoney.html and from a google search for goldmoney.

Also, from the GM web site, the Euro-Dutch Trust (which GM use for validating their client/metal database) is based in Bahamas, also see the ViaMat bar lists reports on http://goldmoney.com/en/bar-count.html which until Q1 2008 were also sent to Net Transactions Ltd (Goldmoney owner company) in Bahamas. Then sent to Jersey from Q2 2008. Bahamas does ring an (alarm) bell for me.

I'm probably being paranoid here but may be if I weren't I wouldn't be considering a SHTF scenario in the first place!

I really appreciate your help and if the S really HTF I'd only have HPC to thank. With about 4 years of reading this forum, I got great input from it while I was considering buying a house in the UK in 2005 and thank God (and HPC ) I didn't!

blackbear

[1888]

I have recently bought Gold for the same reasons as yourself

I don't trust banks!-

my gold is physical its in my pocket not on a screen somewhere

trust no one

If the SHTF you will feel far better without any worry that

someone may be robbing you

Krugerrands for me

[crudeFool]

The only way to be 100% safe with gold is to hold it physically. I've got physical, goldmoney, GBS shares, mining shares etc. If the S does HTF in a REAL serious way, you'd want to also worry about having enough food + be able to protect yourself and your family.

I really doubt it's going to get that bad - we'll have a financial crash, things will be bad for a good few years, and the whole thing will start all over again...

crude

[DrGUID]

I buy mine through exchange traded commodity funds - you can then put them in a pension SIPP or ISA. They have low charges of around 0.4% p.a. and there's less chance of getting scammed by anyone .

[thod]

I buy mine through exchange traded commodity funds - you can then put them in a pension SIPP or ISA. They have low charges of around 0.4% p.a. and there's less chance of getting scammed by anyone

The problem with ETF's is that you don't own any gold, the fund does. If they go into liquidation you are a general creditor. They will be the first targets for compulsory purchase order at whatever price the government sets.

I'm probably being paranoid here but may be if I weren't I wouldn't be considering a SHTF scenario in the first place!

The problem with physical is you are subject to burglary. Now you could deter a casual thief by having a safe, but they could always take the family hostage and force you to open it. Thus you would have to ensure they cant find the safe by having it under the floor etc. Next you would have to very careful about how you acquired the gold. The government would have no problems finding from the banks who made payments to the bullion dealers and the dealers themselves. Then all they have to do is come get your gold. Every single person will say they no longer have it and you can expect them not to believe you as they tear the house up.

I have a lot of respect for James Turk and don't think he is trying to scam you. GoldMoney is incorporated in Jersey in order to keep it away from random confiscations by the big powers. No doubt there are tax reasons too. But your gold is held in one of the vaults operated by Via Mat, a Swiss company. So if you have it stored in Switzerland then that is the government you need to think about. The whole point of using these island states is to prevent action by your home government. If the gold is abroad they cant confiscate it. There is a potential hole in that they could set up an account and force you at gunpoint to transfer, leaving them owning the gold. With BullionVault you cannot transfer, you have to sell your gold to the highest bidder in order to obtain cash to transfer.

[spotthedog]

The whole point of using these island states is to prevent action by your home government. If the gold is abroad they cant confiscate it.

Jersey is a Crown dependency. No-one is going to stand in the way if the army turns up with an Act of Parliament saying the rules have been changed.

[Take Me Back To London!]

Jersey is a Crown dependency. No-one is going to stand in the way if the army turns up with an Act of Parliament saying the rules have been changed.

With what army?

However saying that, the police are quite tooled up these days and have had a dry run with the raiding of several safe deposit vaults in London.

http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/mostpop...ness_raided.php

Importantly, if your gold bullion is not sitting in a Jersey vault, but is in Switzerland how are they going to get it?

Edited July 17, 2008 by Take Me Back To London!

[thod]

Jersey is a Crown dependency. No-one is going to stand in the way if the army turns up with an Act of Parliament saying the rules have been changed.

What would the invasion of Jersey achieve? Metals may only be removed from the Via Mat vault by consent of both the Bahamas trust and the Jersey company together. The idea is clearly to prevent corrupt directors, or in this case directors compromised by a gun to their heads, from having the ability to order the handover.

I doubt government would bother with this. A more likely approach is that they would force you to sell by imposing bullion tax of 100% value per year. This would only need them to know you had it and would apply like land tax's apply to land ownership. They don't need to access the gold so long as they can access you.

['Bart']

Importantly, if your gold bullion is not sitting in a Jersey vault, but is in Switzerland how are they going to get it?

Does the UK government have any powers to request materials from Swiss vaults? (I'm guessing not.)

[Wigler]

I heard there are some vaults in Perth Australia where you can buy and hold Gold. And apparantly the Australian government has no history of seizing gold.

[UndercoverElephant]

Does the UK government have any powers to request materials from Swiss vaults? (I'm guessing not.)

Not. If it was somewhere in the EU I wouldn't be so sure, but nobody is going to tell the Swiss what to do with gold in their safekeeping.

[buyerbeware]

Hi all, I'm considering signing up and buying some gold through goldmoney.com, however as everything that's not in your hands and in the case of a SHTF scenario (which is what gold is all about for me) with unpredictable events and all that... I know some of you guys use it, do you feel safe that their site won't just disappear one day and their phones be permanently engaged??........

blackbear

About as safe as REFCO I wouldn't trust any internet trading company. Notwithstanding doomsday scenario I buy with my HSBC account in Hong Kong, otherwise go physical if you really think banks are not safe. I too am not sure about safety of banks but on balance I am not about to pull all money from the bank and buy bullion so why bother with a small % of my savings.

[pywong]

Check GoldMoney User Agreement.

Clause XVII: Keeping a holding active

Subclase c. If the User fails to access his Holding for a period of seven (7) years, the Holding will be deemed to be abandoned. Any goldgrams, silver ounces or funds in the Holding will be forfeited and paid to GoldMoney

..............

I think you want to be careful about their domicile in one of the offshore islands. They harass you over your source of funds. They have been on me for months thinking I am a money launderer, drug dealer or gun runner. It is very irritating having to deal with such people.

So beware.

py

[nowthenagain]

Considering the reason people buy gold in the first place (safety in the event of catastrophe), it astounds me that people trust these virtual gold websites.

Physical is the only way to go and I think those trying to save a few pounds by doing it virtually will pay for their mistake. It's not like cash savings where you have government guarantees. If your gold, stored safely in Switzerland, managed by a company in Nevis and St Kitts, turns out to not exist then you're ******ed and there will be no sympathy.

It is very difficult to get hold of physical these days. The price is being held down by virtual gold which likely doesn't exist. I'm not a goldbug but I do expect a gold price explosion very soon as the true extent of the virtual gold scam becomes apparent.