NBA and NFL players were allegedly the focus of a Georgia prison inmate’s phishing campaign, which turned into fraud and identity theft and more.
In 2019, a court found Kwamaine Jerell Ford guilty of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft in the Northern District of Georgia after he used his victims’ stolen bank account information from multiple phishing attempts. In that case, he spent around $325,000 using his victims’ stolen financial information.
Federal authorities in the Northern District of Georgia have now charged Ford with another complex phishing scheme as well as a sex trafficking conspiracy that targeted NBA and NFL players. Ford also allegedly pretended to be an adult film star in order to entice, deceive, and force a female victim to perform commercial sex acts.
“While serving time for stealing credit card numbers from athletes and celebrities to fund his lifestyle, Ford allegedly engaged in the same conduct again,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “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.”
How did a prison inmate steal personal information from NBA and NFL players?
According to Hertzberg, Ford allegedly used a two-pronged strategy to obtain login credentials for NBA and NFL players’ Apple accounts starting at least in November 2020, while he was in prison. First, Ford reportedly promised to send the players sexually graphic recordings while posing online as a well-known adult film star.
Ford simultaneously impersonated real Apple customer service accounts, pretended to be an Apple customer support representative, and texted the victims asking for their username, password, and/or Multi-Factor Authentication codes. Prosecutors say Ford duped numerous victims into providing him with their login information using this technique. Ford allegedly obtained credit and debit card information after taking over their Apple accounts and then used them to pay for thousands of dollars in personal expenses.
How did it escalate into alleged sex trafficking?
Furthermore, they accuse Ford of recruiting, deceiving, and coercing a female victim into performing commercial sex acts with the professional athletes in May 2021 by pretending to be the adult film star and promising to help the victim’s modeling career. Ford arranged for the victim to fly to the athletes and negotiated payments from them in exchange for having sex with the victim.
According to prosecutors, he used false identities to intimidate the female victim and kept her engaged in commercial sex acts while he collected money from the sessions, which he frequently recorded without the athletes’ knowledge or consent.
“Kwamaine Ford clearly did not learn from his prior conviction for a similar scheme. This time, he allegedly escalated his criminal activity – stealing identities and money while also moving into coercion and sex trafficking,” said FBI Georgia Acting Special Agent in Charge Peter Ellis. “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.”
Ford entered a not guilty plea to nine counts of wire fraud, seven counts of computer fraud, one count of access device fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of sex trafficking when he appeared in court on Friday. A U.S. magistrate judge ordered him detained without bail pending trial.