The Tinder Car Heist and the Plot For Revenge

Slashdot reader DevNull127 writes: Is there a dark side to online dating apps like Tinder? "According to the FTC, reports of fraud losses from romance scams topped $1.3 billion in 2022," reports the Verge. The head of the FBI's Portland field office tells them that "Technology gives you this false sense of trust." But the co-founder of the nonprofit Advocating Against Romance Scammers argues it's more than that - that technology "gives criminals a crucial tool to find new victims, and they are definitely getting more brazen overall." And then the Verge tells the story of a 32-year-old technology entrepreneur and self-proclaimed multimillionaire who didn't see the red flags when a mysterious date on Tinder asked him what kind of car he owned - and told him that when he paid for their hotel room, bring cash... Yes, he ends up being carjacked at gunpoint in a Tinder car-theft scheme by a largely transient con artist. But then he posts to his 245,000 followers on Instagram - hiring a marketing company to manage a car-recovery campaign. He hears from fences who offer to sell back his car for $30,000 - along with an alleged police informant. There's good luck and bad luck in this wild tale of car chases, police scanners, a neighborhood they call "Methville," and an attempt to bring accountability to a 21-year-old catfisher and her two 18-year-old acomplices. But the story ends with the 32-year-old self-proclaimed multimillionaire back on Tinder, looking for another date.

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