香港金匠今年被骗售了数百盎司的假黄金。这一事件堪称中国黄金市场数十年来遭遇的最复杂的一场骗局。
业内高管表示，这一骗局尽管涉及金额不大，也只是影响到了零售业，但它暴露出，随着金价飙升至每盎司1400美元的创纪录高点，亚洲黄金骗子们的欺诈手段也在日渐高超。
这起假黄金案震惊了整个香港的黄金市场，不仅因为其数量，还因为其技艺的复杂程度。
“仿造质量非常高，”香港具有百年历史的黄金交易所——金银业贸易场(Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society)理事长张德熙(Haywood Cheung)说。他表示，犯罪贩子正在用新技术，来从事黄金欺诈这个古老的行当。
张德熙说，据他了解，一些珠宝店和典当行已发现了至少200盎司的假黄金，价值28万美元。但他估计，整个零售市场上散布的假黄金总量可能是这个数字的10倍。作为比较，各国央行持有的金砖一般每块重达400盎司，价值近56万美元。
在一个店铺中，管理者发现，犯罪分子在与黄金属性相似的合金外面包裹了一层纯金。合金中含有相当比重的黄金，约占总重的51%，另外掺有七种其它金属：锇、铱、钌、铜、镍、铁和铑。
工艺的复杂性表明，只有那些拥有先进设备和高超冶金工程知识的金工技师才能制造出这样的假黄金。
甚至连香港最大的珠宝商之一——六福珠宝(Luk Fook Group)也在今年夏季被骗购了价值1.15万美元的假黄金。之后该公司提醒各门店保持警惕。公司常务董事罗添福说：“这是迄今以来我们受到的最为严重的一次冲击。”
过去，香港以及亚洲其它各地的假黄金要么质地粗糙，甚至肉眼都能识别，要么添加了镀金钨——钨的密度与黄金类似，但交易员和珠宝商可以轻易识别出来。
最新一批假黄金的复杂性很可能降低了这一骗局的盈利能力，因为它使用了大量黄金，而铱和锇的价格也都很高。
仅凭看和摸，很难识别这些假黄金。它们大都通过了基本检测，只是后来经过高温和化学制剂等更为复杂的检测时，才被识破。
行业高管强调，这一骗局针对的主要是销售给珠宝店铺的碎金。张德熙表示，假黄金尚未进入更大的、受到更严格保护的金条市场。
( 英国《金融时报》 罗伯特-库克森 香港报道 译者/何黎 )
原文：
Hong Kong goldsmiths have been sold hundreds of ounces of fake gold this year in one of the most sophisticated scams to hit the Chinese territory’s gold market in decades.
Industry executives say the scam – while not massive and hitting only the retail sector – uncloaks the increasingly elaborate gold swindles perpetrated by criminals in Asia as bullion prices soar to record highs of $1,400 a troy ounce.
The counterfeits have shocked Hong Kong’s gold community not because of the amount involved, but because of their sophistication.
“It’s a very good fake,” said Haywood Cheung, president of the Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society, Hong Kong’s century-old gold exchange, highlighting how criminals are developing new techniques to commit an age-old fraud.
Mr Cheung said he was aware of at least 200 ounces – worth $280,000 – of the fake gold that had been discovered by jewellers and pawn shops. But he estimated that ten times that amount might have infiltrated the retail market. In comparison, the large gold bars held by central banks weigh 400 ounces and are worth nearly $560,000 each.
In one case, executives discovered a pure gold coating that masked a complex alloy with similar properties to gold. The fake gold included a significant amount of bullion – about 51 per cent of the total – alloyed with seven other metals: osmium, iridium, ruthenium, copper, nickel, iron, and rhodium.
The complex nature of the fakes suggest they were produced by a metalsmith with sophisticated equipment and extensive knowledge of metallurgical engineering.
Even Luk Fook Group, one of Hong Kong’s biggest jewellers, was tricked into buying $11,500 worth of fake gold this summer before putting its stores on alert. “This was the biggest hit ever,” said Paul Law, executive director of the firm.
In the past, counterfeit gold in Hong Kong and the rest of Asia was either rough and easy to detect, even to the naked eye, or involved gold-plated tungsten, a metal with a similar density to gold, but which traders and jewellers can easily identify.
The complexity of the latest batch of fake gold would have reduced the profitability of the scam, since it used a significant amount of bullion, and because iridium and osmium are expensive.
The fakes are extremely hard to detect by sight and touch alone. In most cases, they passed basic scrutiny, only to be revealed later by more sophisticated tests involving high temperatures and chemicals.
Industry executives stressed that the scam targeted the street-level sale of scrap gold to jewellers. Mr Cheung said none of the fake gold had infiltrated the much more bigger market for gold bars, which as is protected by more rigorous controls.
