A Georgia man allegedly posed as a “well-known adult film star” in order to scam NFL and NBA players, according to federal prosecutors.
Kwamaine Jerell Ford, a 34-year-old based in Buford, allegedly carried out his scheme while serving time for previous convictions of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft.
He was jailed in 2019 after spending nearly $325,000 in funds stolen from his victims in an elaborate identity theft scam.
“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.
“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,” he added.
Ford allegedly used a two-pronged approach to scamming the athletes, according to officials.
First, he posed as the unnamed adult film star and would offer sexually explicit videos to the players.
While that was taking place, he mimicked legitimate Apple customer service accounts and presented himself as one of the tech company’s customer support representatives.
Then he would ask his victims for their usernames, passwords and any multi-factor authentication codes they had. This was masked as a security measure to allow the athletes to watch the videos.
After he took control of his victim’s Apple accounts, Ford would use their credit and debit card information to pay for thousands of dollars in personal spending.
Prosecutors say that dozens of people fell victim to the phishing scheme, which began as early as November 2020.
“Kwamaine Ford clearly did not learn from his prior conviction for a similar scheme,” Peter Ellis, FBI Georgia Acting Special Agent in Charge, said. “This time, he allegedly escalated his criminal activity – stealing identities and money while also moving into coercion and sex trafficking.”
In May 2021, Ford recruited a female victim while still posing as the adult film star. He allegedly coerced her into engaging in commercial sex acts with the professional athletes, promising to help her modelling career in exchange.
Prosecutors allege that Ford negotiated payments from the athletes for the purposes of having sex with the victim. Then, he would arrange travel for the unnamed woman to meet with the players.
Ford also allegedly coerced his victim into filming several of the sexual encounters without the athlete’s knowledge or consent. He also took a financial cut from the commercial sex acts and used other fraudulent personas to threaten his victim into following his demands.
On March 13, 2026, Ford appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges, including nine counts of wire fraud, seven counts of computer fraud, and one count of access device fraud.
He also pleaded not guilty to four counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of sex trafficking.
