Federal Authorities Indict Two Individuals in $1.3 Million Romance-Investment Fraud Scheme Targeting 26 Victims

FILE – The likeness of Benjamin Franklin is seen on U.S. $100 bills, July 14, 2022, in Marple Township, Pa. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission received over 64,000 romance scams reports that translated into $1.14 billion in reported losses. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

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Daejon Love and Taylor Jamie Chan have been arrested by the FBI and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Officials allege that the duo orchestrated an extensive romance-investment scam that defrauded 26 women across California, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon of approximately $1.3 million. The FBI suspects this figure represents only a fraction of the scam’s actual victims.

Prosecutors allege that beginning in February 2022, Love and Chan established fictitious identities on dating applications. During this scheme, Love frequently impersonated a professional football player for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers or a wealthy real estate investor.

Love is accused of convincing his victims that they were in a sincere romantic relationship, claiming he wanted to build wealth and a future together with them. While early online romance scams typically targeted vulnerable individuals and quickly escalated relationships to request funds for emergencies, this pattern shifted around 2016. Originating in China and spreading globally, the emergence of “Sha Szu Pan” or “pig butchering” scams integrated long-term emotional manipulation with fraudulent investment opportunities. Rather than quickly asking for money under various pretenses, these scammers cultivate deep trust before offering victims the chance to participate in supposedly highly lucrative investments.

Love convinced his victims that he was a sophisticated investor who had earned tens of millions of dollars with the assistance of his investment advisor, Taylor Jamie Chan. However, prosecutors assert that Love was not a sophisticated investor and Chan was not a legitimate investment advisor, but rather a co-conspirator in the fraud.

To bolster his credibility, prosecutors say Love cultivated an extensive online and social media presence, sharing Instagram photos and videos of himself in a 49ers uniform undergoing professional football training and posing with luxury vehicles. This fabricated persona was so comprehensive that search engines and artificial intelligence occasionally identified him as a legitimate member of the San Francisco 49ers, further legitimizing his scheme. Such discrepancies often stem from AI hallucinations—false information incorrectly flagged as true—which can be triggered by repeated claims across multiple platforms.

Prosecutors state that Love utilized software to fabricate bank account interfaces showing $5 million in cash and $15 million in fake investment accounts, which he displayed to his victims. To further support his deception, Love and Chan exchanged electronic messages purportedly detailing new investment opportunities, which Love sent to victims as screenshots. Court records indicate this was followed by FaceTime meetings between Chan, Love, and individual victims, where the victims were encouraged to invest with promises of massive returns.

However, prosecutors allege there were no massive profits and no actual investments whatsoever. Love retained the money his victims purportedly invested, and once the victims exhausted their funds or began asking questions, Love severed all communications with them.

How Could the Victims Have Avoided Being Scammed?

Relying on social media or AI to verify Love’s affiliation with the 49ers was ineffective. A straightforward way to confirm that Love was not a professional football player would have been to review the official 49ers roster, which is easily accessible.

Because many romance scams now incorporate pig butchering investment schemes, individuals should exercise heightened skepticism when a new romantic partner suggests investments, especially those promising “massive” profits.

Most importantly, individuals should never invest unless they have thoroughly researched the advisor and understand the investment itself. In this instance, even a basic investigation into Taylor Jamie Chan’s qualifications would have revealed that he held no licenses, credentials, or registrations as an investment advisor.

Regarding the investments themselves, screenshots of accounts are no substitute for a detailed prospectus and evidence of regulatory filings. A simple inquiry into the proposed investments would have revealed that they did not exist.

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