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 agree 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 Paulo, as well as in other large cities in Latin America, this type of crime is becoming common .

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 represents “more than 90%” of the kidnappings registered by the local police.

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

Only in 1175, the anti-kidnapping agents of the Sao Paulo Civil Police have acted in 94 cases, arresting more than 459 suspects.

Single men older than 40 years are the main target of the delinquents.

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

He was only released after the criminals made several bank transactions through loans, purchases and transfers totaling almost US$ ..

How do they choose the victims

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

“Observe users who boast of 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 trap.

We contacted Tinder, the main dating application mentioned by kidnapping victims -according to the police officers interviewed- to discuss 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 lieutenant of the military police who works in the northern zone from Sao Paulo explained that the victims are generally older men who have a good economic situation.

“They are people older than 40 years old, single and with some goods. 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 the victims put available on dating apps, such as your occupation. But they specifically look for users who post photos of international travel or luxury cars.

“Dating They are usually scheduled in neighborhoods on the periphery between late afternoon and early evening“, explained the lieutenant.

“In one of the cases I attended, a man had tried to arrange a meeting with a woman in a shopping center, but she said she was sick and was sorry not being able to leave the house to find it. He ended up going to her [supposed] home and was kidnapped,” he said.

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

“Dating takes place one or two days after the first contact in the application . The man is convinced that the woman is ‘willing’ [for the meeting]”, added the policeman.

A crime that is rarely reported

Another police officer said he believed that 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 men are ashamed of being scammed or because they were cheating on their partners.

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 disappearance of the victim is only reported after concerned relatives call the police.

“Someone in the family notices that the person has disappeared and gives the alert. I have never found a case of two captive victims in the same place, but the general area [of the city] is the same. Sometimes it’s even in the woods,” said a policeman.

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 offline 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 do not use fake photos and profiles, but real people to lure victims. They send audio messages and real images of the person the victim is talking to.

But the expert warned about some features common.

Una persona envía mensajes de texto en la oscuridad. — We contacted Tinder, the main dating application mentioned by kidnapping victims -according to the police officers interviewed- to discuss 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 lieutenant of the military police who works in the northern zone from Sao Paulo explained that the victims are generally older men who have a good economic situation.

“They are people older than 40 years old, single and with some goods. 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 the victims put available on dating apps, such as your occupation. But they specifically look for users who post photos of international travel or luxury cars.

“Dating They are usually scheduled in neighborhoods on the periphery between late afternoon and early evening“, explained the lieutenant.

“In one of the cases I attended, a man had tried to arrange a meeting with a woman in a shopping center, but she said she was sick and was sorry not being able to leave the house to find it. He ended up going to her [supposed] home and was kidnapped,” he said.

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

“Dating takes place one or two days after the first contact in the application . The man is convinced that the woman is ‘willing’ [for the meeting]”, added the policeman.

A crime that is rarely reported

Another police officer said he believed that 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 men are ashamed of being scammed or because they were cheating on their partners.

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 disappearance of the victim is only reported after concerned relatives call the police.

“Someone in the family notices that the person has disappeared and gives the alert. I have never found a case of two captive victims in the same place, but the general area [of the city] is the same. Sometimes it’s even in the woods,” said a policeman.

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 offline 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 do not use fake photos and profiles, but real people to lure victims. They send audio messages and real images of the person the victim is talking to.

But the expert warned about some features common.

How do they choose the victims

A crime that is rarely reported

Warning signs

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