Florida Man Arrested After Traveling to Arizona to Pick Up $600,000 in Gold from Victim in Phantom Hacker Scheme

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Gary Christopher, 59, of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, was arrested on April 10, and charged by criminal complaint with conspiring to launder money for his role as a courier in a broader fraud scheme that targeted an elderly victim in Phoenix. Christopher made his initial appearance in federal court on April 13.

According to the complaint, Christopher’s co-conspirators contacted the elderly victim, falsely claiming that she was the victim of identity theft. A co-conspirator, impersonating a former United States Attorney, instructed the victim to purchase gold with the funds in her account and turn it over for safekeeping. The victim transferred over $400,000 in assets to the co-conspirators before discovering she had been defrauded. Christopher, acting as a courier, then traveled to Arizona on April 9 to retrieve an additional $600,000 in gold bullion from the victim. Law enforcement intercepted Christopher when he arrived at the victim’s residence to collect the gold. Investigators recovered evidence that Christopher received instructions outlining the steps for picking up and transferring the gold from the victim to a co-conspirator.

FBI’s Phoenix Division is conducting the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adriana Genco, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution.

Phantom hacker scams and government impersonation scams are increasingly prevalent and disproportionately affect elderly victims. Fraudsters in these schemes typically pose as government agents and pressure victims to act quickly to transfer their money to the perpetrators.

The public is urged to remain vigilant, verify the identity of anyone requesting financial transactions, and report suspicious activity to law enforcement immediately. The government will never call individuals to instruct them to transfer funds to the government without written documentation.

The government will never instruct individuals to transfer assets into gold bullion. The government will never instruct an individual to deliver funds to a “courier” who comes to the individual’s residence. Educating potential victims and their families is a key component in preventing these crimes and minimizing financial harm.

If you or someone you know is a victim of elder fraud, we encourage you to call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311). The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time. Services are available for speakers of English, Spanish, and other languages. Victims can also report the fraud to the FBI by filing a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (“IC3”) at https://www.ic3.gov/ by clicking the red “File A Complaint” button. Victims should be sure to include all available information about the scam.

A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

CASE NUMBER:            26-mj-6086

RELEASE NUMBER:    2026-063_Christopher