Federal prosecutors allege Daejon Love stole $1.3 million from more than two dozen women while pretending to be a 49ers wide receiver.

But simply calling it an impersonation almost undersells the operation.

Love, 35, allegedly constructed an entire NFL career out of costumes, social media theater, fabricated wealth, staged videos and enough 49ers merchandise to stock a small team store.

Over more than four years, investigators allege, he transformed himself online from an ordinary man who had never played in the NFL into a supposed professional athlete with millions in the bank and an investment guru waiting on speed dial.

Daejon Labrayae Love is pictured. Love, 35, and Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in Portland, Oregon, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud after Love allegedly posed as an NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers to scam dozens of women. Instagram/@2bcontinued_4

Love and Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, were arrested on Aug. 24 at Boise Airport and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Federal investigators have identified 26 alleged victims across California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho and believe there are more.

What prosecutors allege happened behind that headline is far more bizarre.

Love didn’t merely wear a 49ers T-shirt, put on a replica helmet and hope nobody checked the roster. He allegedly created what amounted to his own NFL multimedia department.

In one video obtained by OutKick from late 2024, Love appeared to sign what he represented as an NFL contract.

Asked who he was signing with, Love responded: “Niners, you already know, Niner gang.”

In the video, he says he wears No. 7, famously worn by Colin Kaepernick and by current 49ers wide receiver DeMarcus Robinson. 

According to an FBI affidavit, Love filmed himself supposedly signing an employment contract with the 49ers while claiming he would play wide receiver.

Representatives for both the NFL and the 49ers said he had never worked for either.

But the videos and props only became increasingly more elaborate.

Investigators reportedly traced more than $1,160 in purchases to Green Gridiron, a seller of custom football helmets. Love trained wearing 49ers gear and a helmet, posted football workouts and allegedly used authentic-looking NFL imagery to make the fantasy believable, including while working out on a beach. 

He even had a personalized 49ers-themed cake made that featured a No. 7 jersey with his name on it.

Love posted an Instagram Story dubbed “NFL Journey,” holding a 49ers helmet while explaining his supposed path into professional football. At one point, he displayed a Google result identifying “Daejon Love” as a San Francisco wide receiver.

“That’s Google. That’s not me, that’s Google,” he told viewers.

There was just one rather obvious problem: Nobody could actually watch him play football.

Love reportedly solved that one by raising an injured finger to the camera and claiming he couldn’t play because he was hurt. For a franchise whose injury reports have sometimes felt longer than its depth chart, another sidelined 49er might not have sounded particularly unusual to someone casually following the NFL.

According to information surrounding the case, Love also repurposed footage originating from actual NFL players, including material depicting the 49ers locker room and Super Bowl field, helping make his online world look like somewhere only an NFL player could have access.

Investigators say his fabricated lifestyle extended well beyond football.

Love allegedly purchased followers, likes and views to inflate his social-media credibility and bought realistic-looking prop currency. He recorded videos of him signing autographs to non-existent fans of screenshots of previous videos of him working out in 49ers gear. He portrayed himself as being sponsored by Fabletics and, according to one person who encountered him, rented expensive Airbnbs that he passed off as his own homes, filled them with empty Louis Vuitton luggage and even had a bodyguard pat down visitors.

It was NFL cosplay with a high production value.

One woman’s encounter captured the absurdity perfectly. She reportedly spotted Love training on a beach wearing his 49ers helmet and took a photograph with him. She sent it to her grandson who followed the Niners.

The grandson didn’t recognize him and suggested she go back and ask his name.

Too late.

Daejon Labrayae Love, 35, and Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in Portland, Oregon. Love is accused of scamming dozens of women after posing as an NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers, while Chan allegedly posed as his financial adviser. Instagram/2bcontinued_4

He left in a Honda Civic, she said.

Federal prosecutors say Love used dating websites like Hinge, Bumble and Tinder, where he created fake profiles and used various names pretending to be an NFL player — or even sometimes a wealthy Swiss real estate developer. 

Love would allegedly form romantic relationships with the victims before having Chan pose as Love’s financial adviser or business manager. The pair would then use fake investment accounts, staged FaceTime calls and fabricated balances to convince women that Love possessed millions of dollars. In January 2024, investigators say Love asked Chan for a screenshot showing a $3.4 million account; another purported stock account was made to appear worth $11 million.

Love allegedly showed victims fake statements — including documents bearing the words “World Bank” — before pitching nonexistent investments. World Bank is not even an actual commercial bank, but instead, according to the United Nations website: 

“The World Bank focuses on poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards worldwide by providing low-interest loans, interest-free credit, and grants.”

And Chan’s age makes the arrangement even stranger.

Federal authorities identify him as 18 today, yet prosecutors say the scheme began in February 2022. That timeline would make Chan approximately 13 or 14 when the alleged operation started. In one of the earliest episodes described by investigators, Love allegedly directed a woman he had recently met online to invest $10,000 through Chan.

Love apparently remained committed to the character until the moment the show ended.

Prosecutors say agents arrested him in Boise while he was still wearing his 49ers apparel. Investigators reportedly later found additional San Francisco gear, including a helmet, inside an Airbnb associated with him.

After four years of pretending to belong in an NFL locker room, Love’s alleged fake football career finally ended at an airport. 

Not with a roster cut, but with the FBI. 

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