Man posing as NFL player accused of conning women out of $1.3M

A man claiming to play for the matches with you on a dating app. His Instagram has 85,000 followers and a blue checkmark. There are videos showing what appears to be his football lifestyle. He drives luxury cars and seems to have plenty of money. So, would you believe him?

Domonique DuBose had her doubts. When she joined me on The CyberGuy Report podcast, she explained how she became suspicious of a man who allegedly to pursue women and promote fraudulent investments. Federal prosecutors say Daejon Labrayae Love and an alleged accomplice received approximately $1.3 million from at least 26 women.

Love pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and a public defender representing him did not reply to a request for comment. Magistrate Judge Jolie A. Russo ordered love detained as a flight risk.

DuBose recognized warning signs and avoided losing any money herself. "Basically, I caught on right away," DuBose told me. What she uncovered raises serious questions about how easily someone can fake an identity online and how you can spot the warning signs before it's too late.

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According to DuBose, Love's Instagram account looked like something you might expect from a professional athlete. His posts showed him wearing San Francisco 49ers clothing and enjoying an expensive lifestyle. There were also videos from football-related locations, including footage that appeared connected to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

"It looked valid. I mean, he had 85,000 followers. He had a blue check," DuBose recalled. She even contacted a friend who had played for the 49ers.

Surprisingly, she says that friend initially supported Love's story. Still, she continued investigating. "I looked at everything from the NFL roster for the Niners to IR to practice squad," she explained.

She also searched his college football history, looking for evidence that he had actually played at the professional level. Another detail bothered her. Nearly every photo seemed to feature 49ers clothing. To DuBose, who knew professional football players, that constant display of team merchandise seemed unusual. later confirmed with representatives of the NFL and the 49ers that Love had never been employed by either organization. That's what makes this case so troubling. A convincing social media profile can make someone seem credible long before anyone checks the facts behind it.

DuBose said she met Love on Hinge. His profile described him as an NFL receiver, but their first interactions made her uncomfortable. "It was really fast how he wanted to get my number," she told me.

Instead of sharing her personal number, she took a precaution that limited how much information he could access. "I gave him my work cell phone number instead of my own phone number, and he started texting me."

Then came an unusual flood of attention. Love sent several videos and voice recordings almost immediately. One recording played during our podcast interview included this opening: "So what's up, beautiful? I had to shoot my shot with you." The messages also included extravagant claims about his wealth and how much he wanted to spend time with her. For DuBose, the pace of the a