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Phillies’ Trea Turner impersonator scams 70-year-old woman scammed out of thousands
A 70-year-old woman living in Towamencin Township says she was scammed out of $50,000 by someone impersonating Phillies’ shortstop Trea Turner.
TOWAMENCIN TWP. Pa. - A 70-year-old woman living in Towamencin Township says she was scammed out of $50,000 by someone impersonating Phillies’ shortstop Trea Turner.
She asked that we keep her anonymous.
The woman, who is a huge Phillies fan and currently battling Parkinson’s disease, says back in July, she came to Turner’s defense on a social media post criticizing his performance.
"I followed his career, I’m a baseball fan," she said.
A person on Facebook, claiming to be Trea Turner, asked if she could download Google Chat to continue the conversation. She was skeptical.
"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 o,’ and I’m thinking, something’s not right here," she said. "He said, ‘Oh I love you.’ What? I’m 70-years-old, I have varicose veins older than this guy."
She says the messages got more personal and more strange, and included photos of Turner, his wife, and children.
"He was relentless, but he’s convincing, he’s repeating things that I knew Trea Turner did on the ballfield," she said. "He kept harping on it for about three weeks so finally I said, ‘Alright, what do you want?’"
The woman says the imposter explained that he was not getting along with his wife and needed help with various properties to keep it quiet. The request for money, different accounts, and ways to send money followed.
"I was gullible, I believed him," she said. "I should’ve known better but, I just, I overlooked it."
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After providing more than $50,000 in payments, she realized she was being completely taken advantage of and went to Towamencin Township Police. They are investigating the scam and working closely with federal partners.
"We don’t have any local suspects, we believe this is outside of the country, but we’re doing what we can," said Lt. Geoffrey Wainwright.
Lt. Wainwright is urging people to be weary anytime anyone is asking for money, especially in cryptocurrency.
"Feel free to use social media, but be aware of anyone contacting you, especially the minute they ask for money or a gift," he said.
The woman received a small portion of her money back, but is now focusing on sharing her story to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
"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."
A spokesperson for the Phillies said they could not comment on the scam because of the active criminal investigation.
If you have any additional information or have a question about a potential scam, contact Towamencin Township Police at 215-368-7606