On Aug. 19, Portland resident Christina Duncan was arrested and taken into custody for allegedly selling over $43,000 of counterfeit gold. Starting in 2024, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers began to suspect that Duncan was tied to numerous other counterfeit gold reports stretching back to 2023.
The gold coins Duncan sold were professionally carried in wooden boxes and covered with plastic. According to Officer Davor Lukic, one of the officers on the case, the smallest amount purchased was for around $2,000, and the largest was almost $24,000.
The case came to Lukic when one of the nine victims posted on social media asking if anyone else had bought from Duncan, and reports flew into PPB from there. “At the end of the day, it comes back to putting all the dots together, starting with talking to the victims,” said Lukic. “Who is the person that they met? How did they know it was the same person?”
As inflation rises, U.S. citizens have begun to look for investment options — including gold, which has risen more than 40% in Exchange Traded Fund holdings in 2025. U.S. News described the gold market as a “safe haven” of investment. Inflation gauges are steadily climbing; CNBC said that the August 2025 consumer price index had risen 2.9% since the same time last year. This means that inflation isn’t just rising, it’s accelerating, a trend experts expect to continue in the foreseeable future.
Lukic has identified nine victims with his team. According to him, her alleged crime was as intricate as it was disheartening.
Duncan’s alleged gold was sold far below the normal price. “When people come across gold that somebody’s selling for even a little bit cheaper than the standard prices, they look into it,” Lukic explained. “In this instance, … people were paying [around] $1,000 less than what the [standard] asking price was.”
When purchasing or selling gold from a licensed dealer, the metals are always tested. Oscar Morante, the owner and sole employee of Portland Gold Buyers, LLC, explained that he doesn’t purchase gold until he tests it himself. Morante uses an Olympus GoldXport XRF device for testing metal fineness.
As a longtime gold dealer, Morante has a lot of experience with fake metal. He recalled a time when a couple tried to sell him fake gold bars, and after testing them, he sent the couple away, along with their counterfeit goods. A few years later, a different couple came in, with the exact same gold bars. Morante suspected they were sold by the couple he had sent away. “You should have seen their faces when I told them that [the gold bars were] fake,” Morante said. “They both turned white.”
In order for Duncan to sell her counterfeit gold, she allegedly manipulated customers in a variety of ways. According to Lukic, she bought and used a gold testing device, adjusting the settings to make the gold look authentic. Duncan would also tell stories. “She … had a different story for almost every victim she sold the gold to,” explained Lukic. These lies were incredibly varied, to the point where not even officers on the case are sure of her backstory.
Criminals like Duncan pose a real risk for Portland community members, specifically those interested in buying or selling gold. Some of Duncan’s alleged victims even spent the last of their life savings on her gold, only to find out it was inauthentic too late, according to Lukic.
Sergeant Thomas Namba, the officer supervising Duncan’s case, stressed the importance of financial safety. “It’s important for community members to recognize the dangers in potentially dealing with any one single person and buying something like this,” he said. “That [could be] their life savings, or maybe their retirement plan. There are legitimate businesses that will [sell or buy gold], and I think that’s a safer route.”
Duncan is currently being processed, and the officers on the case hope she has the money to reimburse her victims. Until then, they encourage anyone who believes they’ve dealt with Duncan to report the crime as soon as possible, and others to be extremely careful when considering gold as a serious investment.
