'Tinder robberies' where men are kidnapped or threatened are on the rise
When you hear 'I made a date on a dating app and then got violent,' many people probably imagine a young woman being the victim. However, in Brazil, there has been a sharp increase in cases of men looking for love using dating apps such as Tinder being targeted in violent crimes, and the international news media Rest of World has taken a closer look at the reality of the situation.
“Tinder robberies” combine fear and dating for men in Brazil - Rest of World
'When I get aggressive messages from women who are much younger and scantily clad, I can't help but be suspicious. If a 23-year-old woman contacts me at 51, I can only assume she's trying to rob me,' says João Eleuterio da Silva, a resident of São Paulo.
Da Silva has good reason to be wary: According to Brazilian police statistics, nine out of 10 kidnappings filed in São Paulo occur after people have arranged dates on apps like Tinder. Police say men between the ages of 30 and 65, like da Silva, are the primary targets.
As such, kidnappings and bank transfer scams targeting men who use dating apps are on the rise, and in many cases these escalate into robbery and murder, forcing men to be more cautious. Three dating app users interviewed by Rest of World all said, 'The way I use apps has changed a lot in the past few months,' revealing that recently they have started to carefully check the identity of their partners, insist on meeting in public, and end conversations if they feel unsafe.
The problem lies in the proliferation of two technologies: dating apps and mobile payments. The main modus operandi is as follows: perpetrators first create fake profiles on dating apps to lure their targets to private locations. When unsuspecting men show up at the designated location, they threaten or deceive them, taking their money via
'When a scam starts with an enticement, the goal is often to lure a potential victim to a secluded location,' said Eduardo Bernardo Pereira of Sao Paulo police's anti-kidnapping unit.
This method has been dubbed the 'Tinder robbery' in the news, but according to Gustavo Torrente, who teaches cybersecurity at the Faculdade de Informática e Administração Paulist educational institution in São Paulo, concerns are also growing among users of apps such as Grindr, which is aimed at the LGBTQ+ community.
The target demographic of criminals is made up of men of all ages and sexual orientations, and their methods go beyond 'lightning kidnappings,' in which victims are blackmailed and then released a short time later.
Rodrigo Souza, a Grindr user from Sao Paulo, told Rest of World, 'Recently, a criminal posing as a police officer tried to get money from me, claiming that he had evidence that I had a relationship with an underage boy.' According to Souza, the scam happened right after he exchanged phone numbers with a Grindr match, who demanded that he pay money if he didn't want to be sued. However, Souza tries to be skeptical of everything, so he didn't fall for the scam.
While many men are becoming more vigilant, there is still a large gap between basic support and reality, and police authorities are growing increasingly concerned that 'many men are defenseless against crime.'
'The risks of using this app are too great,' said Franco Ribeiro, a Tinder user from Juiz de Fora in southeastern Brazil. 'In addition to the fact that it's so hard to find a good match, these risks force me to give up on promising matches for my own safety.' He expressed his disappointment that he cannot rely on the platform or the police and must take responsibility for his own safety.
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