Living a false identity is hardly new. From the phrase "fake it til you make it" to real-life con artists like Anna "Delvey" Sorokin, larping has run through human society for centuries. Hollywood dramatized it in the early 2000s, with Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal of Frank Abagnale Jr. in "Catch Me If You Can" offering a picture-perfect snapshot of the phenomenon. But in the age of social media and the internet, it has only grown more popular—and the stakes have grown with it.

The NFL is a league of professional athletes, showcasing peak athleticism in America's most-watched sporting event each year. Yet recent reports show how easily larping—originally an acronym for Live Action Roleplay that has since morphed into Gen Z slang for acting as someone you are not—can be used to repurpose the league's image for more sinister purposes. According to federal investigators, men who allegedly never made an NFL roster used manipulation tactics to build relationships and even businesses by posing as football athletes, showing that the modern-day larp goes well beyond a lighthearted trend. The ruse exploits a gap that is largely a function of roster size: NFL teams carry only 53 active players plus a practice squad, out of roughly 1.5 million Americans who play high school football each year—meaning the overwhelming majority of people who have ever worn a uniform never reach the league, yet team-branded merchandise and highlight footage are available to anyone.

Federal prosecutors say Daejon Labrayae Love spent years presenting himself as an NFL player or a wealthy real-estate investor, meeting women on dating apps and eventually steering them toward investments that did not exist. Love illustrates a modern form of larping—taking the idea of playing a character and applying it to real life, where the costume can be an NFL jersey, the resume can be an Instagram account, and the audience can be a potential payday. The structure prosecutors describe—romance cultivated on a dating app followed by a pitch to invest—matches the pattern the FBI and FTC have warned about for years in romance scams, which the FTC reported cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars annually, with losses often rising when the scam includes a fraudulent investment component.

Traditionally, "LARP" stands for "live-action role-playing"—a form of role-playing in which participants physically act out fictional characters and scenarios. But the term has also taken on an informal meaning: to "larp" is to perform an identity or persona rather than genuinely be what one claims to be. That definition closely matches the social media trend sweeping younger generations and embedding itself in Gen Z's vernacular.

Love's larping scam

According to a press release from the US Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon, Love and 18-year-old Taylor Jamie Chan were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud after allegedly creating fictitious investments and using them to defraud women in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California.

"Love convinced many of the victims they were in sincere romantic relationships with Love, that he was a sophisticated investor, and that Chan was his investment adviser who helped Love grow a fortune worth tens of millions of dollars," the release read. "Love had romantic relationships with many of the victims and told them he wanted to build wealth and a future together."

The government says the scheme began in February 2022, when Love allegedly met most of his victims through dating apps—posing as either a San Francisco 49ers player or a wealthy Swiss real-estate investor. He reportedly cultivated the appearance of wealth through social media and in-person interactions while convincing the women they were in genuine romantic relationships.

According to investigators, the football identity was central to the performance. The investigation found Love posted photographs and videos of himself wearing 49ers gear and portrayed himself as a legitimate player. According to an FBI affidavit, Love even filmed himself appearing to sign what he represented as an NFL contract. The affidavit also stated that representatives for the NFL and the San Francisco 49ers told investigators that Love had never been employed by either organization. That denial is consistent with a verification step that is publicly available to anyone: the NFL and its teams publish current and historical rosters, and league employment records can be checked through official team sites—making the alleged fabricated contract video, not a database, the only "proof" ever shown to victims.

Love allegedly then introduced the investment component. Chan posed as his financial adviser, prosecutors said, helping to make the supposed investments appear legitimate. The pair allegedly used phone applications to manufacture bank and investment accounts showing fake balances and participated in three-way calls to encourage the women to put their own money into investments that prosecutors say did not exist.

The alleged haul was about $1.3 million from 26 identified victims, according to financial records cited by federal prosecutors. The FBI believes there may be additional victims. The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to provide further comment on the case to Fortune.

There's a lot more to Love

Love is not the only one to break hearts by posing as a professional athlete. According to reports from the Dallas Morning News, former Division II football player Uras Agee IV presented himself online as having played for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Pittsburgh Steelers. His social media bio also reportedly described him as a Super Bowl LV winner and a Dallas Cowboys safety.

Agee does have a verified history in the sport: He appeared on Shorter University's 2017 roster. There is, however, no verified evidence of Agee ever appearing on an NFL roster.

The reports also found social media material in which Agee appeared in NFL team gear and workout videos, as well as a graphic that appeared to announce him joining Roc Nation—the entertainment and sports agency founded by Jay-Z.

Then there was the charity appearance. In 2023, Agee appeared at a Tampa-area wellness business wearing Cowboys gear and signed a football for a holiday donation drive. The business said the autographed football would be given to a child through Toys for Tots. CBS News Texas reported that photographs from the event showed Agee participating in the charity effort. The Dallas Cowboys told CBS that Agee had "never been a player/signed a contract with the Dallas Cowboys."

A profile claiming to be Agee on a website appears to charge $240 for a social media deal, $600 for a brand ambassador deal, and $3,000 for an appearance fee. That pricing sits in the range typically commanded by genuine professional athletes in the influencer-marketing marketplace, where brands pay for verified athletic status—which is exactly what makes an unverifiable claim valuable to the person making it.

There is no criminal investigation regarding Agee's case.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.