D-1 Bound Recruiting barred by Twitter after USA TODAY investigation

Twitter has banned several accounts associated with D-1 Bound Recruiting in the wake of a USA TODAY Sports investigation into the entity, which used social media to scam parents and athletes out of tens of thousands of dollars.

USA TODAY Sports identified 18 parents and recruits who said they sent money to D-1 Bound after first making contact with them on Twitter. The families, who hail from 11 U.S. states and Canada, say they lost nearly $33,000 in incidents over the past four years.

“We have permanently suspended several accounts referenced in the article for violations of the Twitter Rules,” a Twitter spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY Sports in a statement Saturday night.

Twitter said it banned D-1 Bound’s primary Twitter handle, @D1boundfactory, for violating its financial scam policy, which prohibits users from creating accounts, posting tweets or sending direct messages “that solicit engagement in … fraudulent schemes.”

The account had been operating since 2015 and amassed more than 38,000 followers, including prominent recruiting reporters and coaches at all levels of college football.

D-1 Bound appears to have evaded suspicion by hiding its contact information and changing its Twitter handle. When contacted by USA TODAY Sports late last month, the account protected its tweets, blocked the reporter and later rebranded itself as a private recruiting service, using the hashtag “#MembersOnly.”

SPECIAL REPORT:Football dreams. Promises of recruiting help. Then snared in a scam.

Twitter also suspended a second account associated with the entity, @D1BoundOfficial, for violating the same policy. That handle had billed itself as the official backup account of D-1 Bound, presumably for use in the event that its primary handle was suspended.