Fake Naval officer romance scam swindles Arizona woman out of her home

MESA, AZ (InvestigateTV) — Romance scams are increasingly impacting older adults and crime experts say it often goes unreported.

A 2025 AARP report found at least one in 10 adults ages 50 and older have personally fallen victim to a romance scam. Yet over half of those who lost money didn’t report it.

An Arizona woman lost her home after a similar con spiraled out of control.

The 69-year-old retiree, who asked to be identified only as “Susan,” said she received a random Facebook message last summer from a man named Stephen who claimed to be stationed in the Middle East.

He claimed to be an officer with the Navy.

The relationship began with friendly conversations about their backgrounds. Stephen claimed to be from Virginia, and after a few weeks, he suggested moving their chats to private messaging apps like WhatsApp and Spike.

“He would start using love names — babe, honey and sweetheart,” Susan said. “I don’t feel like I’m a dumb person, but I feel very stupid that I didn’t see the clues.”

Stephen sent romantic messages, including “Good morning, my love,” and “I find myself looking at you and wondering how I got so lucky.”

Susan said they never spoke on the phone because Stephen claimed he didn’t have access to one while stationed on a military base in Iraq.

He offered to help Susan with her bills and late RV payments by sending a package full of gold, cash and jewelry for their future life together.

When the package never arrived, Susan received messages from someone claiming to be a U.S. diplomat who needed money to get the package through customs. Susan sent $1,200 cash by mail.

“It felt real. I felt like he was being honest. I didn’t feel like it was fake,” Susan said.

The requests for money continued with repeated claims about customs problems. Susan was eventually convinced to sell her four-bedroom house to access more funds.

“I think at one point I told him I had a retirement account and he wanted me to use that. I go, ‘No,’” Susan said.

Susan sent another $8,000, then $55,000, then $6,100. She only realized she was being scammed when she told her financial advisor about the money requests while trying to take out a car loan.

She now lives in a small apartment and struggles to pay bills after losing her house and life savings.

Real estate agent sees increase in home-targeting scams

Phoenix real estate agent Doug Hopkins said romance scams targeting seniors’ homes are becoming more common. He has encountered at least six cases in the past year.

“They create this world that these people 100% believe is going to happen — sell their house and wire this money to somebody they’ve never met,” Hopkins said.

He said he tries to intervene when possible but has limited authority to stop sales.

“I’ve always heard of people that will scam people out of money using some sort of con but never to the point where the whole equity of their house,” Hopkins said.

Legal options limited for prevention

Attorney Dwane Cates said legally, adults can sell their property even if family members suspect fraud.

“The thing is if you are of age, if you are over 18, you can sign any contract to sell anything you want and nobody can stop you from doing that. The realtor can walk away but they’ll just get another realtor,” Cates said.

He recommends family members monitor loved ones making major financial decisions and report suspicious activity to the state attorney general’s office immediately.

Susan hopes sharing her story will prevent others from falling victim to similar scams.

“What are you hoping by sharing this story? That nobody else does this — don’t fall for it. As much as you want it to be true, as much as you want attention — it’s not real,” Susan said.

How to avoid these scams

If you want to learn how to avoid scams like these, we spoke to someone else with real-life experience: a self-proclaimed former scammer.

Christopher Maxwell said he spent years presenting himself as an American soldier online. He would pose as this soldier to build relationships with unsuspecting women, just so they could wire him money.

“I friend them, and I start chatting with them and I make them like me,” he said. “I make sure that I involve myself in their everyday activities.”

Eventually, Maxwell said one of his victims persuaded him to step away from scamming people.

Now he helps educate women on the signs of romance scams.

His main advice on protecting yourself? Never send money to someone you haven’t met in person.