Two men have been arrested for allegedly running a scheme in which one posed as a San Francisco 49ers player in order to scam at least 26 women out of $1.3 million.
Daejon Labrayae Love and Taylor Jamie Chan have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud by criminal complaint in Portland, Oregon, according to a press release from the Justice Department on Tuesday, August 25.
The pair allegedly created fake social media accounts to defraud women in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California, dating back to 2022. Love, 35, is said to have posed as a 49ers player, while Chan, 18, posed as his financial advisor in an effort to “gain their victims’ trust and demonstrate the validity of the investments.”
The justice department alleges their scheme ran until their arrest on Monday, August 24. At that point, Love and Chan had arrived in Boise, Idaho to meet new victims. The FBI apprehended them at the airport and they remain in federal custody, according to ESPN.
“The scheme relied on Love’s creation of fictitious personas and display of a lavish lifestyle which Love presented to victims both in person and on social media websites,” the release reads. “Love falsely portrayed himself as legitimately wealthy, often as an NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers or as a wealthy real estate investor.”
The release included a screenshot of one of the alleged Instagram profiles. Several posts show Love in 49ers gear, appearing to be at practice, while others show him posing next to expensive cars. He allegedly took some of the posted video clips from actual NFL players and, in other videos, claimed to be friends with NFL stars Tyreek Hill, Antonio Brown and John Brown.
“Grind don’t stop,” the bio reads. “Suisse made. NFL Wide Receiver @49ers #undrafted Trust god.”
Though the profiles weren’t perfect — the San Francisco Chronicle notes that one video includes Love celebrating the 49ers’ Super Bowl appearance two years after the game took place — they were convincing enough to fool the internet.
“Search engines and artificial intelligence occasionally stated that Love was a bonafide 49ers player,” the Chronicle reported.
“Love had romantic relationships with many of the victims and told them he wanted to build wealth and a future together,” the release continued. “Love advertised nonexistent investment vehicles and claimed these investments would generate massive returns for both him and his victims.”
Once the alleged victims had no more money to invest, Love is believed to have blocked communication with them, keeping their money. None of the identified victims reported “receiving any proceeds, returns on their principle, or investment account information.”
