A former NFL cornerback was arrested in Roswell on Wednesday, accused of using his professional pedigree in a fraud scheme to scam women he met on dating platforms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, authorities said.
Buster Skrine, who has been on the run from Canadian officials for more than a year over alleged check fraud, is now facing 18 counts related to financial fraud following the dating scheme, according to Roswell police.
“Skrine builds his credibility with women by stating he is a retired NFL player,” according to his warrants obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. “Females believe that, after 11 years in the league, one is financially stable and trustworthy. Due to his popularity from being in the league, Skrine has to create a story with the females to cover any news articles that may appear online.”
Skrine, who played football at Etowah High School in Cherokee County and later at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was in the NFL for a decade and played for five franchises, retiring after the 2021 season.
On July 17, Roswell detectives started an investigation into the 36-year-old after it was discovered he was defrauding financial institutions, according to his warrant. He has been accused of deposit account fraud in Fulton and several other Georgia counties since 2017.
Skrine was charged with check fraud totaling more than $100,000 in August 2023 by the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada, but cut off his ankle monitor and fled the country after being granted bail in April 2024, police said.
In his alleged dating scheme, police said Skrine typically met the women online through apps like Hinge or Bumble using a false name at first. Most of the women were in their 30s or 40s, authorities said, and had just emerged from a marriage or long-term relationship.
He exploited them by finding areas where they connected, made false promises about a long-term future together and capitalized “on their insecurities,” according to the warrants.
After a few weeks, Skrine opened up to the women and said he had been in trouble in Canada and had to take the fall for his father-in-law, then promised to pay them back using his NFL annuity, the warrants stated.
“The females help Skrine as they believe this is a serious relationship, allowing him to use their finances under the pretense of being paid back,” his warrants stated. “Skrine finances his life from one female to pay for the lifestyle with another female.”
He has women open accounts in their names and then removes their access so he can be the sole user, the warrants state. He typically uses Cash App, Instacart, Apple Pay and Uber because he can add money to those accounts to pay for his everyday expenses, according to authorities. Police said he uses the money to finance travel and rental properties.
Roswell police have identified at least three victims in Wisconsin, North Carolina and New York, with the financial fraud from the dating scam totaling $300,000. Skrine has been living and using the victims’ funds in Roswell since 2024, according to the warrants.
One of the victims said she helped Skrine financially with the expectation he would pay her back, according to the warrants. But she later was notified of declined charges for rental properties, leading her to realize he also used her credit card for an Airbnb without permission, the warrants added. Police said he never paid her back and owes about $60,000.
In another Fulton County case in December 2022, he deposited several checks totaling $34,500 that all came back as having insufficient funds, according to the warrants. That tactic, known as check kiting, is essentially a form of bank fraud where you open a bank account, write fraudulent checks to another bank, deposit them and then those checks return as nonsufficient funds once the money is spent, police said.
“Skrine has a history of about $600,000 in financial fraud and $650,000 in money laundering/structuring for approximately 10 years across the United States and Canada,” the warrants stated.
On Wednesday, Roswell police searched a home associated with Skrine on Pine Grove Road and arrested him. He was booked into the Fulton jail and is facing charges that include several counts of deposit account fraud, identity fraud, financial transaction card fraud, theft by taking and criminal attempt to commit theft.
Roswell police said they are “working closely with Canadian authorities to ensure Skrine answers for all of his charges in both countries.”
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who might have been a victim is asked to contact police at nfields@roswellgov.com or 770-640-4455. Tipsters can also contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477, text information to 274637 or visit the Crime Stoppers website.
Skrine earned first-team All-Southern Conference honors during his final two seasons at UTC and then was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He totaled almost 500 tackles with the Browns, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans.
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