The NFL Players Association on Thursday alerted certified agents that their athletes — along with NBA players — may have been targeted by a man who allegedly posed as a female adult film star and is accused of running a phishing scam that prosecutors say evolved into a fraud and sex trafficking scheme.
Kwamaine Jerell Ford, 34, of Buford, Ga., has been charged with nine counts of wire fraud, seven counts of computer fraud, one count of access device fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and one charge of sex trafficking, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Ford was convicted of a similar phishing scheme in March 2019 after hacking into more than 100 Apple accounts belonging to athletes and rappers. Prosecutors said Ford, who was convicted of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft seven years ago, spent nearly $325,000 using stolen financial information.
The more recent alleged scheme began as early as November 2020, while Ford was in custody in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, according to prosecutors. On March 13, he pleaded not guilty to the 22 charges. A U.S. magistrate judge ordered him held without bail pending trial.
“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 a statement. “Disturbingly, the indictment alleges that Ford went even further and used a fraudulent online persona to allegedly traffic a young woman and coerce her to produce hidden camera videos of commercial sex acts with unknowing individuals.”
Prosecutors said Ford allegedly used a phishing scam to obtain login credentials for Apple accounts belonging to NBA and NFL players through a two-pronged approach. He allegedly posed online as a well-known adult film star, offering to send sexually explicit videos to athletes, while simultaneously posing as an Apple customer support representative and asking victims via text message to provide usernames, passwords or multi-factor authentication codes to access the videos that the adult film star persona was trying to send. Dozens of victims were allegedly tricked into providing their account information, allowing Ford to obtain their credit and debit card data and spend thousands of dollars on personal items.
“This individual was supposedly able to access many athletes’ iCloud accounts and stole victim information including credit cards,” the NFLPA said in a memo obtained by 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.”
Prosecutors allege that in May 2021, Ford again posed as the adult film star and recruited, tricked and coerced a woman into engaging in commercial sex acts with professional athletes, falsely promising the encounters would advance her modeling career. He allegedly advertised the woman to the athletes, coordinated her travel to the athletes and negotiated payments from the athletes in exchange for sex with the victim, with Ford taking a financial cut. Ford also allegedly threatened the victim and forced her to secretly film the encounters without the athletes’ knowledge or consent.
Ford was released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons custody in January 2022, according to online records.
“Kwamaine Ford clearly did not learn from his prior conviction for a similar scheme,” said Peter Ellis, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta office. “This time, he allegedly escalated his criminal activity — stealing identities and money while also moving into coercion and sex trafficking. The FBI’s dedicated agents remain committed to staying ahead of schemes like this and protecting the public from individuals who exploit and harm others for personal gain.”
— The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala contributed to the report.