Police warning after Tinder user ripped off by potential date

 
 "Police say people need to be cautious when using dating applications, especially if people ask for money."

There was no love lost between a man and the woman he met on Tinder after he gave money her money and she returned demanding more.

Police have issued a warning to Wellington users of dating apps following an incident where a man gave money to a woman he'd met on Tinder.

She then came to his house with two gang members to demand more money, escorting him to an ATM.

The woman then sent a text message to the man say she would be back the next day, with the gang members, to get more money, police said.

He called police and the trio was arrested and faced a number of charges.

Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Todd said people needed to be very cautious when using such applications, especially when people were asking for money.

"Fortunately in this case, the people involved were able to be identified and arrested, however there are often times when this is not the case.

"Our advice is never to send any money to someone from a social media or dating site that you don't know very well or haven't met in person."

NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker said there was an increase in similar crimes occurring.

"There a rise in cyber crime utilising these kinds of apps," he said.

"The crime falls into two categories, physical crime, like assault and robbery, or fraud and deception."

Because apps like Tinder allowed people to communicate privately it created situations where people were taken advantage of very easily, he said.

"For criminals, those person-to-person apps are the best way to reduce their risk of getting caught whilst getting a successful outcome for their crime.

"There is no community standing around saying be wary."

Anyone who did fall victim to a scam through social media or dating sites was urged to lodge a report on the ORB website or directly to police.

WHAT IS TINDER? 

Tinder is a dating app that connects users' Facebook profiles and uses their GPS location to find potential matches near them.

Users get to swipe through pictures of other single people in the area, and can tick or cross to say whether you like them or not.

If a mutual match occurs, Tinder launches a chat between the two.

                                                                          -STUFF