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Former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz says he is dealing with being extorted by someone that hacked his phone.
The MLB on Fox analyst revealed some of the details of the extortion attempt in a video he shared on Instagram on Wednesday.
“I’m not making this video just because of the fear of what could come out. I’m also doing it to give you guys, my people, the heads up not to involve yourselves with this situation because [law enforcement agencies] are already taking action on these actions, which are completely illegal,” Ortiz said in the Instagram video, WCVB News reported.
The extortionist reportedly has threatened to sell information about the 47-year-old former baseball star’s personal life. The hacker has also accessed his bank account.
David Ortiz added that the criminals used a cellphone he has had for more than 15 years, but hasn’t used in awhile.
This same hacker, according to Ortiz, also gained access to his bank accounts about six months ago and made fraudulent charges against him.
He added that the FBI, the DEA, the Dominican Republic’s intelligence department and police are all now involved in the situation.
“Be careful,” Ortiz wrote in the description to his video.
In December of 2022, 10 people were convicted as part of the attempted murder of the Baseball Hall of Famer.
Ortiz was shot at the Dial Bar and Lounge while visiting the Dominican Republic in June of 2019, suffering damage to his gallbladder, liver and bowels. He ended up spending seven weeks in the hospital.
An investigation determined that the assassination attempt was actually intended to be carried out on a man named Sixto David Fernández, who was sitting at the same table as Big Papi. David Ortiz was allegedly confused for Fernández, who was also in the bar that night.