Did Hart Family Fall Victim to a Scam Artist?

The bizarre case of Fernley, Nev., offensive lineman Kevin Hart took another turn when it was reported that Hart's parents paid a man who represented himself as a recruiter in hopes their son would get a scholarship.

Hart, pictured with Fernley coach Mark Hodges, told a member of the Lyon County Sheriff's Department that a man who identified himself as Kevin Riley told the family that he was a middle man to big-time college programs. It wasn't clear how much money the Hart family paid Riley, who could face a charge of obtaining money with a false pretense.

But finding Riley is the trick. The purported recruiter, who coincidentally has the same name as a quarterback at California — the school Hart planned to attend — has disappeared.

"It's an ongoing investigation but we have no suspect at this point and no info to identify a suspect," Deputy Dan Lynch said.

One of our readers also found what appears to be a hoax MySpace page for a Kevin Hart of Fernley, Nev. You never know what you get in the world of MySpace, but amid a background of Snickers bars and videos of Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers movies, the bio contains this blurb:

"My name is Kevin, I was a 2nd team all state guard in Nevada. I love to eat, ALOT. Im (sic) gonna go to a D1 college as soon as I find one that doesn't look at your GPA."

Update: The MySpace page has been taken down, but you can download a web archive of it by clicking here.