Man Posed as NFL Player to Steal $1.3 Million from 26 Women Across Four States
Federal prosecutors say Daejon Love used dating apps, fake investment accounts, and a made-up San Francisco 49ers identity to run a long-running romance fraud that netted over a million dollars from victims in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California.
Key points
- Daejon Labrayae Love, 35, and Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, were arrested in Boise, Idaho in connection with a romance and investment fraud scheme that began in February 2022.
- Prosecutors say at least 26 victims across four states lost a combined $1.3 million.
- Love falsely presented himself as a San Francisco 49ers player and a wealthy real estate investor on dating apps and social media.
- Both men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, which is the federal crime of using electronic communications to deceive people out of money.
- The FBI believes the true number of victims may be higher than the 26 identified so far.
What did these men actually do?
The scheme was straightforward but carefully staged. Love found women through dating apps, built what they believed were genuine romantic relationships, then steered those relationships toward fake investment opportunities.
He posed on social media as either a San Francisco 49ers footballer or a high-end real estate investor. He told victims he wanted to build a future with them. He introduced Chan as his personal investment adviser, a professional who had supposedly helped Love grow a fortune worth tens of millions of dollars.
None of it was real.
Love used phone apps to generate fake bank and brokerage account screens, the kind of dashboards you would see inside a legitimate investment platform, showing impressive balances and returns that did not exist. Chan sent Love messages pretending to flag new investment openings; Love forwarded those screenshots to victims as proof the opportunity was genuine. The pair also held video calls with victims to walk them through falsified profit figures.
When a victim ran out of money, court documents say Love sometimes told her to take out a loan. When a victim asked too many questions or had nothing left to send, he blocked her, cut all contact, and kept the funds.
How did they get caught?
Authorities arrested both men when Chan flew from California to meet Love in Boise, Idaho. Financial records reviewed by investigators showed the pair had received roughly $1.3 million from victims, first reported in detail by NBC News.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Scheme start date | February 2022 |
| Victims identified | 26 (FBI believes more exist) |
| Total funds received | approx. $1.3 million |
| States affected | Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California |
| Charges | Wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud |
Should women who used dating apps around this time be worried?
If you sent money to someone you met on a dating app who described themselves as a professional athlete or a high-return investor, that is a strong warning sign. You do not have to wait for a criminal conviction to act.
Contact your bank immediately if you transferred funds. Ask whether any of the payments can be recalled, because speed matters with wire transfers. File a report with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI. The FBI is actively seeking more victims and any information about Love or Chan.
The clearest red flag in this kind of fraud is an online partner who introduces an investment opportunity, no matter how convincingly they present account statements or adviser credentials. Legitimate investors do not recruit romantic partners as clients.
