Fake 49ers players growing web of fraud victims expands in latest FBI announcement
More than five dozen people are now believed to have fallen for a cash-grab scheme orchestrated by a man pretending to be a San Francisco 49ers player.FBI Special Agent Douglas A.Olson said at a news conference on Friday that after initially suspecting Daejon Love and his 18-year-old accomplice Taylor Chan defrauded 26 people, federal investigators now think the overall number is 61.“We were surprised how many people were victimized in such a short period of time and then to have that many more come forward,” Olson said, according to ESPN.
“It’s a large volume for just a couple of subjects.Our concern is that this fraud could be replicated by other individuals that are out there victimizing other people in similar schemes.”Prosecutors alleged in a criminal complaint that from February 2022 to the day they were arrested last month, Love and Chan built an elaborate web of lies to get women to send them money.In many cases, Love would pose as a 49ers player and offer to help his victims invest their money, according to the feds.
Chan would then pretend to be Love’s financial advisor, and when the women sent over cash, the two ghosted, prosecutors said.In total, Love and Chan allegedly stole $1.3 million.“The women didn’t just fall for something obvious,” Olson said on Friday, according to The Oregonian, “they were deliberately targeted by people who worked very hard to earn that trust and steal their money.”Olson said there might be even more women who were deceived by Love and Chan, and he encouraged those who have remained quiet to contact the FBI immediately.“We don’t want anyone to be fearful of coming forward,” Olson said, “certainly not for fear of embarrassment or anything like that, because we want to help them and we want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anybody else.”Love, 35, and Chan have both been charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.Each charge carries a sentence...