Romance fraudster jailed after taking more than £28,000 from Tinder and Bumble victims

In the UK, a man was sentenced to three years in prison after deceiving several men he met on Tinder and Bumble and taking more than £28,000 from them.

A man convicted in the United Kingdom has been found guilty of using dating apps to carry out a long-running romance scam. According to the case presented in court, he pretended to be a gay man genuinely looking for love on Tinder and Bumble, while in reality he was using those relationships to obtain money from his victims.

Investigators said he first built emotional trust with the men he targeted before starting to ask for financial help. The requests covered everyday expenses, travel and other costs, always with promises that the money would be repaid later. Once money had been sent, he reportedly became evasive, aggressive when challenged and used emotional pressure to keep the payments coming.

The court heard that three victims were targeted over a period of two years. Two of them were described as particularly vulnerable, which increased the seriousness of the case. One victim is said to have lost more than £26,000 and was left with serious financial consequences.

The case moved forward after concerns were reported to Action Fraud. A City of London Police investigation then uncovered digital evidence that strongly supported the fraud allegations, including online searches and messages suggesting that dating platforms were being used deliberately to extract money.

In total, the losses were estimated at more than £28,500. Two victims were reimbursed by their banks, but one still faces long-term financial impact. The defendant pleaded guilty to multiple counts of fraud by false representation and was sentenced to three years in prison. Authorities have reminded the public that requests for money, emotional pressure, promises that move too fast and efforts to take conversations away from the app are common warning signs in romance scams.