A 70-year-old Philadelphia Phillies fan was allegedly scammed out of an estimated $50,000 by someone pretending to be Trea Turner.
The baseball fan apparently believed he was communicating directly with the Phillies shortstop on social media.
She eventually learned that she was actually talking to a scammer, but she didn’t know until she was fooled.
The victim had previously been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
She began communicating with the impersonator when she defended Turner on social media.
Then I got a message from someone I think was a two-time MLB All-Star who wanted to talk to me on Google Chat.
She initially had doubts about whether Turner would be on the other end of the chat.
The chat lasted about three weeks.
“He was relentless, but convincing. He repeats what I knew Trea Turner did in the ballpark,” the woman said. fox 29.
“He kept saying it for about three weeks, and I finally said, ‘Okay, what do you want?'”
However, those concerns faded as the conversation continued, and Fake Turner began sharing details about his personal life.
Fake Turner then claimed that there were marital problems and that he needed to prevent his wife from accessing some of his real estate.
He asked the woman to transfer large sums of money to various accounts.
After transferring a total of $50,000, the woman concluded she was the victim of an elaborate scam and decided to contact the police.
She admitted that she was naive.
“I was gullible. I believed him,” she said.
“I should have known better, but I just overlooked it.”
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating. It is unclear whether the suspect resides in the United States.
