Kidnapped on the first date: criminals who use Tinder to attract men and extort them

A man contacts a woman on a dating app, they exchange messages and, some time later, they arrange to meet in person. When the man arrives at the agreed place, he is kidnapped by armed people. What promised to be a special moment turns into a nightmare that lasts for days.

In the Brazilian city of sao pauloas well as other large cities in Latin America, this type of crime is becoming common.

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The Sao Paulo Public Security Secretariat (SSP) told the BBC that attracting people by using fake profiles as bait on dating apps like Tinder now it represents “more than 90%” of the kidnappings registered by the local police.

The victim suffers psychological and sometimes even physical torture while their bank accounts are emptied.

In 2022 alone, the anti-kidnapping agents of the Sao Paulo Civil Police have acted in 94 cases, arresting more than 250 suspects.

Single men over the age of 40 are the main target of criminals.

One of the victims was a doctor from the city’s prestigious Hospital de Clinicas, who was held captive for about 14 hours in early November after making an appointment through such an app.

He was only released after the criminals made several banking transactions through loans, purchases and transfers totaling nearly $14,000.

How do they choose the victims?

In a statement, the SSP said that criminals study the behavior of their victims on the Internet.

“They observe users who flaunt their economic power on social networks and arrange an appointment at the house of the ‘bait'”, they point out.

The BBC spoke with police officers – who mostly asked to remain anonymous – and digital security experts to understand how these gangs operate and what are the main signs that a date could be a setup.

The authorities of the city of Sao Paulo reported that 94 kidnappings of this type have been reported so far this year. (GETTY IMAGES).

We contacted Tinder, the main dating app mentioned by kidnapping victims -according to interviewed police officers- to talk about what security tools and methods are available on the platform to prevent these crimes. At the time of publishing this note, no response had been received.

A military police lieutenant who works in the northern area of ​​Sao Paulo explained that the victims are generally older men who have a good economic situation.

“They are people over 40, single and with some assets. Most of the criminals lure the victim through Tinder, with seductive messages and a request to meet as soon as possible,” said the police officer.

Criminals analyze the personal information that victims make available on dating apps, such as their occupation. But they specifically look for users who post photos of international travel or luxury cars.

“Appointments are usually scheduled in suburban neighborhoods between late afternoon and early evening“explained the lieutenant.

“In one of the cases I saw, a man had tried to set up a meeting with a woman in a shopping mall, but she said she was sick and was sorry she couldn’t leave the house to find him. He ended up going to the [supuesto] her home and was kidnapped,” she said.

Each gang acts in accordance with the expectations of the victim, generally men who are not looking for a relationship, but a more casual encounter.

“Appointments take place one to two days after the first contact in the app. The man is convinced that the woman is ‘willing’ [para el encuentro]”added the police officer.

An underreported crime

Another police officer said he believed many “dating app kidnappings” go unreported for various reasons.

The first is that the victim often feels ashamed to go to the police to file a complaint. Another of the main causes is that some men are in a relationship and tell their partners that they were victims of common kidnappings to avoid being discovered.

Police believe that many cases go unreported because the men are ashamed of being scammed or because they were cheating on their partners. (GETTY IMAGES).

What surprised one of the agents was the frequency of cases of wealthy and educated men falling for these scams because they agreed to go to more remote neighborhoods to have romantic encounters.

In most cases, the victim is only reported missing after concerned family members call the police.

“Someone in the family notices that the person is missing and raises the alert. I have never come across a case of two captive victims in the same place, but the general area [de la ciudad] it’s the same. Sometimes it’s even in the woods,” said a police officer.

warning signs

Guilherme Alves, a digital security specialist at SaferNet, a Brazilian NGO that tackles internet crime, said criminals often use dating apps to extort money off the platform.

“An important point is to understand what the platform is responsible for. What happens outside of it is outside the scope of the company, but it is possible to request information on the fraudster’s profile in court, if there is a crime,” he added.

Alves also pointed out that, in some cases, scammers don’t use fake photos and profiles, but real people to attract victims. They send audio messages and real images of the person the victim is talking to.

But the expert warned about some common features.

Experts recommend that meetings take place in public places with a lot of people around, such as shopping malls. (GETTY IMAGES).

“If it is a scam of the type catfish (in which a false identity is created on the internet), the profile is actually fake and the criminal may try to direct the person to another platform, such as WhatsApp. Sometimes the scammer may claim that he removed the profile from the platform with the justification that they want something serious.”

Alves has identified several red flags for anyone who meets a person on a dating app and intends to set up a face-to-face meeting.

“Deleting the profile from the platform after the first date may indicate that the person wants to hide information. Another point is people who want to arrange meetings very quickly and leave the platform to chat on WhatsApp. Meetings in private places should also be avoided,” said the cyber security specialist.

He recommends that people ideally keep records of all conversations and set up meetings in crowded public places, like a mall. Alves also noted that scammers may strike after a couple of dates, rather than during the first.

“In a case I worked on, a woman who ended up as a victim had two dates with the offender and, on the third, he stole her and disappeared,” Alves recalled.

Source: Elcomercio