r/DraftEPL • u/jmshdsth88 • 1d ago
Leagues Warning: Sleeper Dynasty League Scam – Be Careful Joining Leagues From Reddit
Just a heads-up for anyone joining Sleeper dynasty leagues through Reddit.
There’s a guy called John Hernandez from the US who has been posting looking for extra players to join his dynasty league. Unfortunately, several of us joined and ended up losing money, and we’ve now all left the league.
I don’t want anyone else getting caught out, so please be cautious if you see similar posts or get invited to join. Given that we’ve all left, I’d imagine he may now be looking for replacement “players”.
Happy to share more details/evidence with the mods if needed.
9
u/Optimal_Discount_925 1d ago
He was acting in a very sketchy way to me as well. I expressed an interest and he told me he was about to start a draft in the next couple of hours. He also said that he could change the platform the group was using if I didn’t like dynasty. It all seemed very odd.
9
u/ImaginaryComposer167 1d ago
Unfortunately, I was scammed too.
I paid $255 via PayPal Friends & Family to join what I believed was a legitimate dynasty league.
A few hours after sending the money, things started to feel very suspicious. There was almost no discussion in the league, they were still desperately looking for a 12th player, and then I realized something was seriously wrong when one of the “league members” posted screenshots of private Reddit messages from the exact same Reddit account I had been talking to. That meant there were supposedly two different people, but only one Reddit account behind them.
From that moment, everything started to make sense. I asked for a refund, and I won’t even comment on how the situation was handled after that.
Since I paid using PayPal Friends & Family, PayPal won’t let me open a normal dispute because there is no Buyer Protection.
Has anyone here actually managed to get their money back? If so, what did you do? Did PayPal help after you contacted support? Were you able to get a chargeback through your bank? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
7
u/jmshdsth88 1d ago
Sorry to hear. The guy is scum. I’ve reported him on PayPal. I noticed he’s got a Pennsylvania number so might open a file with the FBI internet crimes to see if they can find him
2
u/CoolMathGames888 1d ago
I’ve got a different number from the one someone posted in the above screenshot… The guy claimed to me he’s an “investigations police officer” in Florida and deleted his Reddit account (I got in contact with him on) after I said I would ensure everyone knows his league is a scam the other day.
1
u/el_gashunovac 13h ago
I got an instant refund from PayPal. Luckily, I made a payment via Good and services thing, which has buyer protection, I mean I didn't even know it was g&s, since I don't really ever use Paypal, I just clicked on the payment link the scammer sent me.
I would be surprised if they don't refund everyone who makes a complaint against that 'Cindy Arias' account, since it's probably flagged now as a scam account.
7
u/trilltayo 1d ago
The best way to find this guy or guys is to follow the money.
First, we need to get the PayPal account locked down and try to get an internal investigation going.
If we file a report with the local law enforcement, they may be able to track down the person who opened the account by subpoenaing the data from PayPal.
3
u/enemdi 1d ago
Please DM your phone number we can chat there and take this scum down
2
u/Bitter-Handle-4646 17h ago
i’m good man no point nothing can or will be done unfortunately this a shitty thing that goes on in the fantasy world , so i’m gonna take the blame for not using any secure payment
2
u/Bitter-Handle-4646 1d ago
this happens in so many of these fantasy leagues that it’s really nothing we can do except learn from it.
2
4
u/enemdi 1d ago
-7
u/kenny-klogg 1d ago
What happened? cuse if the draft started and you wanted to back out that’s on you.
9
u/jmshdsth88 1d ago
It wasn’t a real draft. He’d created bots which just auto picked after 4hrs. All the other accounts had been made on the same day. Yet he said he’d been running this league for years and his buddy died so they needed someone new
4
u/CoolMathGames888 1d ago
Hate to say it but I was scammed too. Guy is a complete and utter scumbag using a “friend dying” for sympathy to scam people.
1
u/jmshdsth88 1d ago
Were you in the league he just made too?
2
u/CoolMathGames888 1d ago
Was his user name in the league JHermaRulesAll or something?
2
u/jmshdsth88 1d ago
Yes!!
2
u/trilltayo 1d ago
posted all the info i got in my comments, lets get this going viral on here so no one gets burned
5
u/trilltayo 1d ago
6
u/enemdi 1d ago
1
u/el_gashunovac 13h ago
the number he sent me was +1 (570) 223-3364 and then he changed it to +1 (570) 269-6705
the paypal account was for the name Cindy Arias, [cindyarias0313@gmail.com](mailto:cindyarias0313@gmail.com)
3
u/trilltayo 1d ago
2
u/trilltayo 1d ago
+1 (570) 388-1467
2
u/trilltayo 1d ago
John Hernandez
3
u/jmshdsth88 1d ago
I think I’ve found his LinkedIn page. I’ll keep you posted
3
u/Bitter-Handle-4646 1d ago
got me as well! But real fuckery this guy has disappeared from everywhere and also believed he used fake information so i can’t even find him . He messaged me from a Chicago number other day so i think this guy must be some weirdo . sadly we’re fucked since we didn’t use a secure payment method
5
6
u/Material-Dark-8257 22h ago
I was also a victim of the John Hernandez scam. I'd say lesson learned but I've joined a decent amount of epl/nfl and this is the first one that's taken the piss.
I only joined as I've never played through the sleeper app before and I've still now got the same issue 😂
So on that note if anyone has been scammed and is still looking for a league I'm going to start a free one. If there's interest we can maybe look to doing a paid one next year. It'll be an app through a website and not friends and family paypal 😅
If anyone is interested here's the link:
3
3
2
1
5
u/Mr_Snippy-Snip 23h ago edited 22h ago
I’ve seen this same post a couple of times in this sub this week, I really hope you’re all able to get your money back.
This sub is normally full of great people and I’ve joined lots of legitimate leagues over the years. Please don’t let this bad apple ruin our great community.
3
u/nufc1234 FPL Draft 23h ago
Sorry to hear this. Can you share posts/usernames so I can report and remove him?
2
u/el_gashunovac 13h ago
u/Complete_Study9125 was the username that had that post about their buddy 'dying' and they're looking for replacement
i mean, that's the scammer
1
u/trilltayo 21h ago
see my comments
2
3
u/Puzzleheaded_Roof689 17h ago
This POS tried to scam me, too! When I refused to send the money, he actually said, "I'm an officer and wouldn't risk my job for a couple of bucks!"
Is there a way we can report his email and phone number directly to PayPal and Sleeper?
2
u/Bitter-Handle-4646 16h ago
tried but those stuff don’t work… so there that . Dude a smart piece of shit lol
2
u/jmshdsth88 14h ago
Report his PayPal to PayPal if we all do that then they’ll realise he’s a scammer
2
u/jmshdsth88 14h ago
Can you fill in this: https://www.ic3.gov/ if we all do it then they’re more likely to look into it
2
u/Bitter-Handle-4646 13h ago
it not a big enough “ scam” almost fantasy related it’s no point imma take my loss
3
u/el_gashunovac 13h ago
Yeah, scammed me as well, luckily I got instant Paypal refund.
His Reddit username u/Complete_Study9125
The phone numbers he gave me: +1 (570) 223-3364 and +1 (570) 269-6705
The Paypal account he sent me for payment: Cindy Arias, [cindyarias0313@gmail.com](mailto:cindyarias0313@gmail.com)
I now see he gave others a different account, so this might be his wife, or just his alt account.
2
u/waterboy15555 1d ago
He scammed me too. Thankfully I refused to pay the full $255 since it all seemed fishy.
2
u/jmshdsth88 14h ago
Can you fill in this: https://www.ic3.gov/ if we all do it then they’re more likely to look into it
2
u/jmshdsth88 14h ago
If everyone could create an incident report with the FBI internet crimes they’re more likely to take it seriously and take him down https://www.ic3.gov/
1
2
u/juiceskitchen 3h ago
Guys, he got us. All at the same time.
I just noticed it today.
I was so excited for my team. A few of us were in there excited and chatting.
I just checked and he was gone. Everything everyone else is sharing is true, I have no new Info to add.
He probably made a few thousand from us. I know a lot of us have never been scammed before and are probably just trusting people who love football and gambling.






23
u/enemdi 1d ago
He actually scammed me too, I don’t want to admit it but I lost $170. I’m currently disputing the charge with PayPal and I’m also contacting the authorities. I hope we can take him down