What to know about NFL, NBA players duped by man posing as porn star in sex phishing scam

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What to know about NFL, NBA players duped by man posing as porn star in sex phishing scam originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The NFLPA has alerted agents of an alleged scam that was targeting both NFL and NBA players, per NBC Sports.

In a notice sent to agents on Thursday, March 26, the NFLPA said that the FBI has connected a man indicted earlier in March to "posing as a female adult film star," allegedly aiming to lure athletes into providing sensitive information.

Kwamaine Jerell Ford is accused of running a phishing scam that resulted in charges for wire fraud, computer fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and sex trafficking.

Here's what to know about the scam targeting NFL and NBA players.

What was the scam targeting NFL and NBA players?​

The NFLPA sent a notice to agents on Thursday saying the FBI had "advised" that a man posing as an adult film star had "lured" athletes into sharing personal information like iCloud accounts and credit card information. The notice from the NFLPA also said the man had also allegedly "lured athletes into having sex with an adult female OnlyFans creator, being filmed without their knowledge or consent," per NBC Sports.

“This individual was supposedly able to access many athletes’ iCloud accounts and stole victim information including credit cards,” the NFLPA said in its memo, according to The Athletic. “Additionally, this individual, posing as an adult film star, lured athletes into having sex with an adult female OnlyFans creator, being filmed without their knowledge or consent.”

The man, Kwamaine Jerell Ford, has been indicted on 22 total counts of five different offenses. When he was allegedly participating in the scam beginning in May 2021, he was already "serving time for stealing credit card numbers from athletes and celebrities," according to NBC Sports. Ford allegedly posed as adult film star Teanna Trump, with players who may have been victimized by the scam advised to provide information to the FBI.

The Department of Justice press release from Ford's indictment said that in November 2020, while he was in federal custody, Ford began posing online as an adult film star, along with as an Apple customer support representative, asking victims to send their login information in order to access explicit videos.

Below is an excerpt from the press release, detailing Ford's process in allegedly obtaining personal information from athletes, along with coercing "a female victim into engaging in commercial sex acts with the professional athletes."

"Ford allegedly obtained login credentials for Apple accounts belonging to NBA and NFL players through a two-pronged approach. First, Ford allegedly posed online as a well-known adult film star and offered to send sexually explicit videos to the athletes. At the same time, Ford spoofed legitimate Apple customer service accounts, posed as an Apple customer support representative, and requested, via text messages, that the victims send their username, password, and/or Multi-Factor Authentication codes in order to access the videos that his fraudulent adult film star persona was purportedly trying to send the victims.

Through this phishing scheme, dozens of victims were allegedly tricked into providing their login credentials to Ford. After gaining control of the victims’ Apple accounts, Ford allegedly obtained credit and debit card information belonging to victims and used that information to pay for thousands of dollars in personal spending.

Additionally, in May 2021, Ford allegedly posed as the adult film star and recruited, tricked, and coerced a female victim into engaging in commercial sex acts with the professional athletes based on false promises that the film star would advance the victim’s modeling career. Ford advertised the victim to the athletes, coordinated the victim’s travel to the athletes, and negotiated payments from the athletes for the purpose of purchasing sex with the victim. Ford used additional fraudulent personas to threaten the victim and maintain her continued involvement in commercial sex acts with the athletes. Using false personas, Ford obtained a financial cut from the commercial sex acts, many of which Ford allegedly coerced his victim into filming without the athletes’ knowledge or consent."

What is phishing?​

Phishing is a type of cyberattack, with scammers impersonating others, including an individual or an organization, to obtain personal information from a victim.

Phishing can happen over email, text, phone, etc., aiming to steal money, credit card information, login information and more from victims.

Who is Kwamaine Jerell Ford?​

Kwamaine Jerell Ford was the man indicted in the FBI case for targeting NFL and NBA players in a phishing sceme.

He is 34 years old and from Buford, Georgia, per the Department of Justice's press release.

What is Kwamaine Jerell Ford charged with?​

Ford appeared in federal court on March 13, when he pled not guilty to the following charges:

• Nine counts of wire fraud
• Seven counts of computer fraud
• One count of access device fraud
• Four counts of aggravated identity theft
• One count of sex trafficking

Per the DOJ's press release, a U.S. magistrate judge ordered that Ford be held without bail pending trial.

Kwamaine Jerell Ford criminal history​

Ford has a history with similar phishing attacks, the DOJ said in its press release.

In 2019, he was convicted of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft for "perpetrating similar phishing attacks and spending nearly $325,000 by using his victims’ stolen financial information," per the DOJ. Ford was serving time for those crimes when he began engaging in the most recent phishing schemes targeting athletes, and he was then released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons custody in January 2022, per The Athletic.

“While serving time for stealing credit card numbers from athletes and celebrities to fund his lifestyle, Ford allegedly engaged in the same conduct again,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in the DOJ release. “Disturbingly, the indictment alleges that Ford went even further and used a fraudulent online persona to traffic a young woman and coerce her to produce hidden camera videos of commercial sex acts with unknowing individuals.”

Which players were impacted by the scam?​

At this time, there has been no public information about which NFL and NBA players were targeted by the phishing scheme. While no names have been made public, dozens of victims were duped by the scam, per The Athletic.

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