Man posing as a professional NFL player scams women out of $1.3 million

Yesterday was the big “Cutdown Day” around the NFL where hundreds of players’ dreams were shattered as they were fired from their teams.

However, the event was completely overshadowed by the arrest of a man claiming he was a professional NFL player.

The problem is that he has never even played the sport professionally or collegiately. He still managed to scam women out of a lot of money.

How the Cinderella story was a sham

If you only did a quick Google search on Daejon Love’s name before this past weekend, it would say that he was a professional NFL player on the San Francisco 49ers. His Instagram is full of videos of him running routes, showing his hard work.

In reality, Daejon Love is a scammer only posing as an NFL player to lure money out of unaware women hoping to get with a rich and handsome professional athlete.

Love managed to use his social media presence to alter the AI algorithm that has taken over Google searches and make it look like he was a legitimate football star. That way, unsuspecting women could be persuaded to go on dates with him and ultimately give him a lot of money in the guise of business opportunities.

Yesterday, the Department of Justice arrested Love and his partner, citing four years of evidence in the indictment.

How he got caught

Daejon Love was not alone in perpetrating these scams. He had an 18-year-old associate by the name of Taylor Jamie Chan, who would act as his agent and business manager.

According to the DOJ, the scheme began in February 2022. Love would create “fictitious personas” on dating apps, including the aforementioned professional NFL player, where he then would try to coerce multiple women in those spaces.

“Love convinced many of the victims they were in sincere romantic relationships with Love, that he was a sophisticated investor, and that Chan was his investment adviser who helped Love grow a fortune worth tens of millions of dollars,” the DOJ indictment states. “Love had romantic relationships with many of the victims and told them he wanted to build wealth and a future together. Love advertised nonexistent investment vehicles and claimed these investments would generate massive returns for both him and his victims.”

The two men managed to rake in more than a million dollars

The scam might seem too good to be true for people with ball knowledge, but for women who thought they had a real connection with a man who claimed to be a professional athlete with a steady income and a great sense of business, it proved costly.

The federal authorities say that the two men managed to scam more than two dozen women out of a total of $1.3 million. The DOJ states that “Once victims had no more money to invest, or if they asked too many questions, Love blocked communication with them, but kept their money. […] Financial records show Love and Chan received about $1.3 million from victim investors. 26 victims have been identified, the FBI believes there are many more victims.”

On his now-deleted Instagram, Daejon Love would show off wealth equivalent to the lifestyle of an NFL player, but it is easy to spot that he does not have the physique or technique of an NFL player.

Some things are just too good to be true.

This article is made and published by Daniel Wolfram, who may have used AI in the preparation