The Feed has detected a phishing scam on the gay dating app Grindr.
An ACCC spokesperson has confirmed to The Feed, “The premise the scammer uses is that the victim must register on a website to provide they are not a ‘catfish’ or registered sex offender. The victim is told this involves a nominal fee ($1 to a charity in one case).
“Once the scammers obtain the victim’s credit card details, the card is charged a monthly fee of what appears to be USD $39.00 (approximately AUD $59.00).
“It is unclear at this stage if the details are used for other purposes.”
This scam is not run by bots. The scammers are charming and charismatic. They use handsome but realistic profile photos -- including the head shot of porn performer Griffin Barrows -- and send nude photos to their victim to build trust.
The scammer then claims to have been the victim of a gay bashing and even sends photos that appear to show their bruised and scarred body after the bashing. The scammer asks the victim to sign up to a third party website for a police background check using a Google Chrome browser. They say this is to ensure they are not being set up for another gay bashing.
This background check is actually a phishing site. The site appears to be a queer-friendly resource by using acronyms like ‘GEPP’ - ‘Gender Equality Pride Protection for LGBT people who are looking to hook up safely’ or ‘LGBTQI Infinity’.
A profile under the name Carlos asks for a background check before meeting up by explaining that they were victim of a violent hate crime. Source: The Feed
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“Basically I really love to meet you but can you make that account first before we meet, so we can ensure that we are both safe to each other if it’s okay to you?”
‘Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying your a bad guy, i just want to clear things out, i am just requiring this now because last time i met a guy, 4 guys appeared and beat me for no reason hope you understand my concern’ one wrote ‘... im not here to waste my time for some shit’
When a user threatened to report a scammer to Grindr, the scammer replied: "foda-se você" which is Portuguese for ‘fu*k you’.
'Serious guy' asks Grindr user to make an account on a third party website to run a background check for 'peace of mind' before meeting up. Source: The Feed
Phishing account 'Serious guy' claims that "last time I met a guy, 4 guys appeared and beat me for no reason". Source: The Feed
The ACCC spokesperson advises people to “always block and report these profiles on the dating app to prevent others falling victim.”
If you believe someone is trying to defraud you, simply do an internet search using the names or exact wording of the message to check for references to a scam. And if you have fallen prey, make sure to contact your bank or financial institution immediately.
The Feed contacted Grindr for comment. No reply was received by the time of publishing.
If you believe you are a victim of this scam please contact , you can also report scams to the ACCC via the .
