Impact: the company we exposed for Quartz was shut down almost a year later by 30 states and the CFTC.

In 2019, Hanna Kozlowska and I investigated the source of some very sketchy Facebook ads, targeted to conservative seniors, that raised fears of the “deep state” coming for their retirement. It turns out, the ads were for a company called Metals.com, which, customers told us, said gold and silver coins were a safe investment, then sold those coins at markups of 100% or more.

In September 2020, 30 states and the CFTC sued, getting the company shut down. We also traced the company’s efforts to cover its tracks after our investigation but before the shutdown.