PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The FBI arrested a suspected scammer at Sky Harbor Airport who was trying to board a flight to Florida.
According to court documents, the man, identified as Gary Christopher, is involved in an elaborate “phantom hacker” scam that cost a 78-year-old Phoenix woman hundreds of thousands of dollars. The woman, known as J.H. in court documents, was close to handing over another $600,000 worth of gold when she contacted law enforcement.
A scammer convinced the woman he was from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He told her she was the victim of identity theft connected to an ongoing federal investigation into child pornography. He said the federal government was going to help her protect her money while the investigation unfolded.
How the scam unfolded
According to court documents, J.H.’s first transaction with the scammers was a $24,358 wire transfer. The victim was then told to withdraw all of the money in her bank account and purchase gold for safekeeping. She did — $390,456 worth — and handed it over to a courier.
“We have had several reports here in Arizona where individuals are being encouraged to liquidate their retirement accounts and purchase gold,” the FBI’s Mary Gleason told On Your Side in a 2024 interview.
At the time, Gleason said the agency was working to disrupt a network of couriers involved in similar phantom hacker scams.“ We work very closely with [local law enforcement] to find a way to apprehend those individuals and hopefully conduct interviews to then keep moving up the chain.”
In the case involving J.H., the scammers weren’t done with her. They told her to cash out a retirement plan and convert another $600,000 into gold. She agreed to another pickup, but something made her suspicious and she reported it to the FBI.
Agents were at her home for the next meet-up with a courier, who has been identified as Gary Christopher. According to the Department of Justice, Christopher “left his job in order to travel the country retrieving and transporting criminal proceeds.” He was paid $5,000 per box. Investigators say his wife was involved, though there is no record of her arrest.
According to federal court documents, Christopher began communicating with a “handler” in March of 2026 and discussed a series of jobs in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona.
The FBI released Christopher on April 9, 2026, after the disrupted gold “pick-up” at J.H.’s home. The U.S. Attorney’s Office authorized Christopher’s arrest later that day, and agents found him on April 10, 2026, at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport waiting to board a flight to Florida.
At a Wednesday morning hearing, Christopher was determined to be a flight risk and ordered to be held pending trial
When reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Christopher’s wife, Jenny Christopher, denied any knowledge of the alleged crimes.
“I’m not involved. I cook. That’s what I do. I’m behind on my credit cards. I’m not involved with nothing” she told On Your Side. “He told me that somebody had reached out to him and that’s all he told me.”
Fighting back
“The encouraging thing about this gold bar scam is people have to be in the United States, so it actually gives law enforcement a chance,” said Brian Watson, a retired special agent with IRS Criminal Investigation who now works with the nonprofit R.O.S.E., helping seniors avoid scams.
He said this type of scam is happening to victims all over the country.
“It uses their honesty and their trust in authority against them,” Watson said.
Once the gold is gone, it’s gone.
“Gold is actually pretty easy to move,” Watson said. “Doesn’t have a serial number, you don’t have to deposit it in the bank. It’s very easy to move across borders, it’s easy to conceal, so it’s actually a pretty good tool for scammers to use.”
How to protect yourself
To protect your money, don’t click on pop-ups or links on any of your devices.
Don’t call the phone number provided in an unexpected text, email or pop-up and don’t download software onto your device at the request of someone you don’t know.
The U.S. government will never ask you to send money via wire transfer, cryptocurrency or gold.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2026 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
Click Here For The Original Source.
