A Florida man has been arrested in Arizona after allegedly traveling to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold from an elderly woman implicated in the so-called “Phantom Hacker” fraud scheme.Gary Christopher, 59, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, was taken into custody on April 10 after he allegedly arrived at the victim’s Phoenix-area home to take approximately $600,000 worth of gold bullion. He has been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and made his first appearance in federal court on April 13.Christopher worked as a courier in a major scam targeting an elderly woman. Fraudsters contacted her, pretending to have stolen her identity and falsely claiming she needed to secure her money.One of the scammers even impersonated a former US Attorney and instructed him to convert his savings into gold and hand it over for “safekeeping”. Over time, more than $400,000 in assets were transferred before the victim realized she had been defrauded.Christopher’s role came in the final stages of planning. Prosecutors say he traveled to Arizona on April 9 to pick up additional deliveries of gold from the woman. However, law enforcement officials were already monitoring the situation and stopped him when he arrived at the property.Investigators later found evidence that Christopher was given detailed instructions on how to collect the gold and transfer it to other members of the group.Authorities say the case is part of a growing trend of “phantom hacker” scams, where criminals impersonate government officials or technical support agents to trick victims, often elderly people, into handing over money or valuables. Typically, genuine government agencies will never ask people to withdraw cash, buy gold, or hand over valuables to a courier sent to their home.The investigation into Christopher continues as authorities continue to locate other suspects involved in the scheme.