Ex-NFL Player Buster Skrine, Who Was Already Wanted in Canada for Bank Fraud, Arrested in United States For Scamming Women Through Dating Apps
NY Post – Ex-Jets defensive back Darryl “Buster” Skrine was arrested by authorities in Georgia on Wednesday on 18 counts in an alleged financial fraud scheme — over one year after he became a wanted fugitive in Canada in a separate fraud case.
The 36-year-old was booked on Wednesday and charged with deposit account fraud, identity fraud, financial transaction card fraud, theft by taking and criminal attempt to commit theft, according to Roswell, Ga. police.
Police allege that Skrine targeted three women — located in Wisconsin, North Carolina and New York — through dating apps and asked for money after saying he was having money issues, promising to repay them with his NFL annuity.
Tale as old as time. After an 11-year, 158-game career.... a career in which he earned over $40M (one year of Sophie Rain/Lauri Markkanen money)... a career that saw him once intercept Tom Brady.
After all that, Darryl "Buster" Skrine went broke. At least I hope he went broke. Or else that would mean Buster Skrine went full Tinder Swindler and started scamming unsuspecting women across North America for the love of the game. Which I think would probably be worse.
But I think it's safe to say Buster was having a bit of financial trouble. Because because Buster played out his own version of Netflix's Tinder Swindler documentary here in the United States, he took to Canada to run a more 'Catch Me If You Can'-esque scheme. Except instead of being extremely savvy and running fake commercial pilot capers like the great Frank Abagnale Jr., he was just cashing bullshit checks at different banks then skipping town.
TMZ – The Durham Regional Police Service said Wednesday that Skrine had attended "numerous financial institutions" recently in order to illegally obtain cash. They claimed as part of his scheme, Skrine would identify himself as a retired NFL player, open bank accounts with fraudulent checks, and then obtain a portion of the dough before the check cleared.
They said Skrine did this at multiple locations in the Durham Region … adding that they had "reason to believe" he had pulled similar scams all across Canada.
But that was no problem for Buster. After a brief stint behind bars, he was granted bail on the condition he wore an ankle monitor to track his location. Nothing that Buster couldn't simply cut off before skipping back over the boarder to find some rich American women to prey on.
Miami Herald – He was arrested in August 2023 at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on fraud charges, according to the Durham Regional Police Service. In April 2024, he was transferred to a different correctional facility and granted bail on the condition he wear a GPS monitor, police said.
He skipped a court date in May 2024, cut off his ankle monitor and fled to the U.S., according to authorities.
What a horrific string of events it's been for Buster Skrine. He was drafted by the Browns… signed in free agency with the Jets… signed in free agency again with the Bears… and when he finally found his way to a competitor in San Francisco, he was immediately cut and had to go play for the Titans. Damn. I suppose defrauding banks across Canada for a fraction of your old paychecks, and begging desperate women for money on Tinder is pretty bad too. But my goodness. Things have been DARK for ol' Buster ever since draft day. Poor guy.
I don't think it's worth harping on the fact that it will never cease to amaze me how people allow themselves to get scammed by people they met on Tinder. It's not like Buster Skrine was dating these women a long time. He couldn't have been. He scammed at minimum three women, and he's barely been back in America for a year. And police are expecting more victims to come forward.
Buster Skrine is a good looking guy and all, but we can't be giving tens of thousands of dollars to just any old 11-year retired NFL vet we meet on the apps. My personal rule of thumb is to never lend $100k to someone who's used to making that much money overnight. They're not going to value it like you and I do. That's a couple weeks worth of cash in their mind. The only way you're ever going to see that money again is if it comes through the courts. Hopefully they will.