WASHINGTON — The FBI has identified over 30 additional victims of men who pretended to be San Francisco 49ers players on dating apps to allegedly scheme women out of money, according to ESPN.
Initially, at least 26 victims came forward. Many of these women were from Washington and Oregon.
Daejon Love, 35, and Taylor Chan, 18, have been accused of luring victims into fake investments. Love would pose as a San Francisco 49ers player, and Chan would pose as his financial advisor, according to the authorities.
“Love met most of the women on the Internet through dating apps,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon, stated. “Chan falsely posed as Love’s financial adviser to further gain their victims’ trust and demonstrate the validity of the investments. Love and Chan solicited money from the women through lies and misrepresentations.”
The scheme began in February 2022 and lasted until their arrest on Aug. 24.
“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 U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote. “Love falsely portrayed himself as legitimately wealthy, often as an NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers or as a wealthy real estate investor.”
As part of the fraud scheme, Love allegedly had romantic relationships with many of the victims, convincing them to invest in nonexistent investment vehicles so they both could generate “massive returns.”
According to multiple users on X, the fake profile even fooled Google’s AI Overview result, claiming he was a “wide receiver” for the franchise when searched online.
The scheme went so far as to have the pair host three-way FaceTime calls in which they showed victims falsified investment gains virtually. But once victims ran out of money to give away, Love would block communication with them. The same happened if victims began asking too many questions.
In total, Love and Chan received approximately $1.3 million from at least 26 victims.
On Sept. 18, 35 additional women came forward saying they were victims, bringing the total to over 60, ESPN wrote.
The agency is working to verify that they were victims, ESPN said.
“We were surprised how many people were victimized in such a short period of time and then to have that many more come forward,” Portland FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson said at a news conference. “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.”
Olson believes more victims are out there.
MyNorthwest.com contributed to background reporting on this story.
Follow Frank Sumrall on X. Send news tips here.
©2026 Cox Media Group
