Psst — Don't buy any discount gold bars in parking lots; it's a scam.

Medford police are warning people to watch out for two men attempting to sell what they claim is a gold bar at a discount price. In two incidents since September, the pair has defrauded local victims of $7,500, Medford police Lt. Tim George said.

The scam artists, identified as Hispanic, target other Hispanics in store parking lots and try to pressure them into handing over cash in exchange for an alleged gold bar, he said.

In the first case, Sept. 25, a man came up to a man in the parking lot of Poplar Square and showed what he claimed was a bar of gold with an appraisal certificate from an insurance company, George said. The company was willing to buy the $15,000 gold bar for $12,000, but the man said his uncle had been run over and killed and the family needed cash immediately, so he would sell the gold for $7,000.

A second man approached and said he would be interested in the deal, but the man first approached agreed to pay $1,500 immediately and more later. After handing over his money and getting the gold bar, the man took it to a jeweler and discovered it was worthless metal painted gold, George said. He returned to the shopping center on Poplar Drive to look for the seller, but couldn't find him or the other prospective buyer, who police suspect is working with the seller.

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On Oct. 26, a Hispanic man 30 to 40 years, 6 feet tall, weighing 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes approached a woman in the Food 4 Less parking lot on Biddle Road. He was wearing light colored scrubs as if he worked in a hospital or nursing home, police reported. He told the woman his uncle had been in a car crash and needed money for medical expenses, so he wanted to sell a 2-inch-by-3-inch gold bar valued at $25,000 for $20,000. A second man 30 to 40 years, 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 140 pounds, wearing a cowboy hat and a mustache, came up and said he had $10,000 and wanted to be in on the deal.

The man wearing scrubs went with the woman to a Washington Mutual bank branch where she withdrew $6,000 and gave it to him. She promised to have the rest by Oct. 28 and they arranged to meet again then, when he would give her the gold. He and the fake gold never showed up, police said.

George said the scam has been reported up and down the West Coast, with recent cases in the Eugene-Springfield area, Woodburn, and Sparks, Nev. An Internet search reveals warnings and cases from across the country.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it is," George said. "No one is selling gold bars in parking lots legitimately."

Anyone with information on these suspects or this investigation is asked to contact Officer Ken Dickerson at 774-2229.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.