Police have revealed a new type of fraud: gold cash-out combined with cryptocurrency transactions forms a money laundering loop.

According to Mars Finance, police are warning of a new type of scam involving "offline cash withdrawal + online fraud" emerging as the year-end gold consumption peak season approaches. Victims purchase gold at a jewelry store and have it mailed to a designated address. The scammers then send disguised "drivers" to pick up the package from the courier. Multiple "drivers" relay the gold, with the last one taking it to a recycling shop to sell it and then delivering the cash to the scammers' designated location. Some scammers also have their "drivers" find cryptocurrency dealers to exchange the gold for virtual currency, deposit it into a designated account, and then use blockchain technology to enable the virtual currency to circulate and be used globally. Once successful, the scammers achieve their goal of stealing gold and laundering money.