The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has issued an investment fraud warning, pertaining to “digital gold vaults”.

As per
ASIC’s September 11th warning
;

ASIC is aware of unlicensed entities promoting suspicious investment opportunities in digital gold vaults.

These unlicensed entities are luring consumers by purporting to offer passive income and other benefits, such as payments, in return for recruiting or referring new investors.

The entities target trusted relationship-based networks, such as families and friends, and use online articles and social media posts and groups, such as Instagram and Facebook to provide details about the investment.

Consumers invest by obtaining the rights to use a digital gold vault with a certain storage capacity and for a specified period of time.

Other investors will then use the digital vault to store their virtual gold, and this allegedly generates a passive return for the initial consumer.

This fits the
former business model of Auratus Gold
, a GSPartners spinoff targeting Australians.

It can be difficult to verify whether the digital gold vaults in fact exist because the entities offering the vaults are typically based overseas.

It is possible that the passive returns generated may actually be funds from new investors, resulting in some schemes potentially being ponzi schemes.

While it’s odd ASIC didn’t mention Auratus Gold or suspected owner Josip Heit (right) by name, ASIC did issue an
Auratus Gold securities fraud warning
last month.

As far as I’m aware ASIC hasn’t taken action against any other company using a “digital gold vault” business model. Again, it’s odd Auratus Gold wasn’t referenced by name in ASIC’s September 11th warning.

In any event, Auratus Gold’s initial “digital gold vault” investment scheme collapsed in June 2024.

Auratus Gold’s second fraudulent investment scheme sees consumers pitched on passive returns through
Zai Cards and “gold points”
.

This is essentially a repacking of
GSPartners’ “metacertificates” fraudulent investment scheme
.

GSPartners, parent company GSB Group and owner Josip Heit recently
settled securities fraud allegations with four US state regulators
.

The North American Securities Administrators Association
notes
GSPartners claimed to have solicited $1 billion in investment from “over 800,000 investors”.

🤖 Quick Answer

What is the "digital gold vaults" investment fraud warning issued by ASIC?
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued a warning on September 11th regarding unlicensed entities promoting suspicious investment opportunities in digital gold vaults. These schemes lure consumers with promises of passive income and rewards for recruiting new investors, targeting relationship-based networks through social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

How do digital gold vault scams operate according to ASIC?
According to ASIC, unlicensed entities offer consumers rights to use a digital gold vault with specified storage capacity in exchange for investment. The schemes promise passive income and payments for referring new investors, employing a recruitment-based structure characteristic of pyramid or Ponzi-style fraud models.

Who is targeted by digital gold vault investment fraud?
ASIC has identified that these fraudulent schemes specifically target trusted relationship-based networks, including

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