The online identity did the heavy lifting. The FBI says Daejon Love posed as a San Francisco 49ers player or wealthy real estate investor and used that image to draw women into fake investments.
Love and Taylor Jamie Chan allegedly scammed more than two dozen women out of about $1.3 million. At least 26 victims have been identified across California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, with the scheme beginning in February 2022.
The operation combined romance, status, and invented financial expertise. Love convinced victims they were in romantic relationships with him, then presented himself as a sophisticated investor who could guide their money into fictitious investments.
Chan allegedly played the supporting role, falsely posing as Love’s financial adviser. That detail gave the scheme a second layer of credibility: Love supplied the personal connection and wealthy persona, while Chan appeared to provide the financial machinery behind it. A fake adviser can make a fake investment look impressively organized—at least until the money disappears.
A carefully built digital persona
Love’s social media profiles showed him wearing 49ers gear and standing near expensive cars. One profile purportedly belonging to Love claimed he had more than $5 million in cash and $15 million in investments, presenting a picture of wealth designed to support his claims.
The identity also shifted. Love used other names, including Jon Love, Avril Lyto Love, and Jordan Love, while continuing to portray himself as a professional athlete or wealthy investor. The combination of multiple names, sports imagery, expensive vehicles, and romantic attention created a persona with several entry points for trust.
The scheme did not depend on one isolated interaction. Love and Chan created fictitious investments and received about $1.3 million from victims, according to the verified account of the case. The number of identified victims—at least 26 women—shows a repeated pattern rather than a single failed deal.
Arrests and the next court appearance
The FBI arrested Love, 35, and Chan, 18, in Boise, Idaho, on 24 August 2026. Both remain in custody in Boise, and their first court appearance was scheduled for Thursday.
Love had traveled to several states beginning on July 15, including California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah. Those travels sit alongside the list of states where women were defrauded: California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The pattern gives investigators a broad geographic trail to examine.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Oregon is the prosecuting authority identified in the case. The FBI’s account places the alleged scheme’s start in February 2022 and the arrests more than four years later, after victims across several states had been identified.
This case shows how social media deception can turn familiar signals into financial leverage. A sports uniform, expensive cars, claims of millions in assets, and a romantic relationship do not prove investment expertise, but together they can create a convincing performance.
The money was real even though the investments were not. That remains the central feature of the case: Love and Chan allegedly built an online identity, attached it to romance and wealth, and used it to collect roughly $1.3 million from women who believed they were dealing with a genuine player and investor.
Based on
- Man Used Poisoned Google AI Overviews to Trick Women Into Thinking He Was an NFL Player, FBI Says — futurism.com
- Man posed as 49ers player to scam women out of $1.3m, FBI says | NFL | The Guardian — theguardian.com
- Man accused of posing as San Francisco 49ers player to defraud women out of $1.3M, feds say – CBS San Francisco — cbsnews.com
