Dating app users beware: your Tinder match might be a scammer—and not just in the looks department.
Now, we all know that meeting strangers on the internet isn’t always, well, safe. Though dating apps can provide opportunities to meet new people, you should take precautions when using them. That way, you can avoid situations like this one…
Katie Powell, a single mom, was scammed out of $40,000 from someone she met on Tinder.
“It’s turned my life upside down,” she told KGW.
Single Mom Looking for Romance on Tinder Scammed Out of $40,000
At first, Powell simply thought she’d matched with a 40-year-old civil engineer working in Turkey. They started by messaging back and forth for a few weeks.
“I mean it was ongoing, constant texting right away for the first, for the entire relationship,” she said.
However, eventually, the man started requesting money from Powell, citing personal struggles and stating he had no family to turn to. Basically, he was attempting to guilt-trip a stranger who he’d never even met in person.
“Instantly, my instinct was like, ‘Why would somebody, you’ve never met me, I’ve known you for 10 days,’” Powell said. “Why would you be asking me for money?”
But the scammer sent Powell fake documentation and a poorly edited image of him in a hospital bed, which she unfortunately fell for.
“I was questioning every single thing and knowing this is not right,” she explained to KGW. “But he was able to talk me into the fact that it was right.”
At first, everything seemed legit—at least to Powell. Apparently, the scammer even paid off her credit card bills and deposited $750,000 into her retirement account.
Eventually, however, the payments bounced and the money vanished, KWG reported. Ultimately, she ended up losing more than $40,000.
“I mean it was physically, psychologically, emotionally, just draining,” Powell said.
Let this be your sign to never send money to a stranger.
The post Mom Thought She Found Love on Tinder. Then She Got Scammed Out of $40K. appeared first on VICE.
