A 70-year-old woman has sent over $50,000 to a man pretending to be the Phillies shortstop, Trea Turner, on Facebook, in a story reported by FOX29 Philadelphia.
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The Phillies fan, who asked not to be identified, is currently battling Parkison's disease, and says she fell for the scam, where she believed she was communicating with the real MLB player online.
Man impersonating Phillies’ Trea Turner accused of scamming 70-year-old woman of $50K, police investigating https://t.co/QECFoAnssi
— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) May 8, 2024
The interaction between the "catfisher" and innocent lady happened back in July of last year, when she came to the defense of criticisms regarding Turner, who was going through a slump at the time (.218 batting average; July '23).
That is to say, the real Turner was under much scrutiny, as a result of his performance on the field not corresponding with his new 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies.
On Facebook, the elderly fan was defending her favorite player. To note, around this same timeline the real All-Star SS, came out and expressed gratitude to the Philly fanbase, "The fans have my back."
Then after some time, she gets a message from a man, acting as if he is Turner, thanking her for her support.
The lady said, "I thought is this the real Trea Turner?"
"He writes me back at night and says, 'Oh, thank you for your encouragement, because of you did you see how many hits I got? I got a standing ovation and I'm thinking, something's not right here," the lady stated. "He said, 'Oh I love you.' What? I'm 70-years-old, I have varicose veins older than this guy."
At first the victim didn't buy it, but then she says he started sharing details from his personal life, which made her think it could be real. The impersonator sent her photos of Turner's family, and talked about things he did on the baseball field, which she watched during the games. At this point, it went on for three weeks, and so finally she gave in.
The imposter then talked about some relationship issues with his wife, and stated that he "needed help with various properties to keep it quiet."
The lady out of sympathy wanted to help the man, who she thought was a major leaguer, and answered his requests of asking for large sums of money.
In total, the Montgomery County resident had sent around $50,000 to the supposed player that makes over $27 million dollars per year ($50+ per minute).
At the end of it all, she knows she got duped. She claimed she overlooked the red flags of a MLB player asking to chat with her on Google chats. "I was gullible, I believed him."
"He was so convincing, I'm thinking I'm not stupid, but he got me, I just want to warn people, be careful of this," she said. "We're still financially fine. He did not ruin us. He didn't win."
She then went to her local law enforcement, Towamencin Township Police, where they are currently investigating this scam that took place, however, it is believed that the perpetrator is outside of the country.
The Phillies organization is aware of this ordeal, but did not comment on the situation, due to the ongoing investigation.
The real Turner is currently on the 10-day IL with a hamstring injury, and is set to miss approximately the next six weeks. In 33 games this season, Turner is batting .343 with 2 home runs, 9 RBI's, 27 runs, and 10 stolen bases.
