said. Leonardo Munoz

3 There have been roughly a dozen thefts using this scheme in the past year, resulting in about $3 million stolen, officials revealed. REUTERS

 These scams exist, and they're horrible, horrible people - they will stop at nothing to steal their money,  Catalina said.

Suffolk County lawmakers are already pushing new legislation to try to curb similar scams, including mandatory warning signs inside gold dealers' stores and fresh protections for potential victims.

Under the newly proposed bill, gold and metal buyers who are 60-years-old and plus would have to answer a set of questions at the point of purchase, designed to flag whether they're being scammed before they walk out the door.

The law would also mandate that dealers would have to hold funds from any precious metals purchase over $50,000 for 48 hours - giving buyers, dealers or cops a window to catch a scam before it's too late.