Chris Andersen Was Victim of Catfishing Scheme That Began in 2012, Cleared of Any Wrongdoing in Complex Case

Manti Te’o‘s catfishing scandal has nothing on Chris Andersen‘s.

The Miami Heat forward was reportedly the victim in a triangular, elaborate Internet hoax that was carried out by a woman in a small town in Canada, according to the Denver Post.

Andersen’s lawyer and agent, Mark Bryant, said that the woman posed as Andersen online, attempted to start relationships with other people as Birdman and also threatened a female acquaintance of his.

In March 2012, Andersen’s home was searched by the Douglas County Sheriff’s department’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit. After his house had been searched, it was revealed that Andersen had been extorted by the mother of a young woman in California he was having a relationship with. Bryant now believes that the young woman in California was also duped by the woman in Canada.

The Denver Post reports that Anderson and the woman in California never met in person, and their exchanges online weren’t direct, either, as all of them unknowingly went through the woman in Canada. For example, she would impersonate Anderson to the woman, and the woman to Andersen.

Andersen was not charged with any crimes when his home was searched, and on Wednesday, his lawyer said he was cleared of any wrongdoing in the case that spanned several states and two countries and has more than a dozen victims.

Lennay Kekua doesn’t seem so bad now, right?

Photo via Twitter/@mehidisbudak