Man loses Dh101,000 in bogus Tinder date with woman in Dubai

Dubai - The group forced him at knifepoint to hand over his bank cards and their pin codes

Three men along with two women - one of them at large - allegedly robbed a man of Dh101,000 after luring him to their flat.
The group forced him at knifepoint to hand over his bank cards and their pin codes.
According to public prosecution records, the five Nigerian nationals, aged between 23 and 32, opened an account on popular app, Tinder, posting photos of a European good looking woman.
They lured the victim by engaging him in a conversation through that fake account and invited him for a massage date in a flat. Once in the flat, they physically assaulted him and stole his cash and mobile phone after threatening to kill him.
They took his car keys to get his wallet out of the car, containing his bank cards, and forced him at knifepoint to reveal the pin codes. 
They managed to withdraw Dh55,000 and Dh45,000 on two bank cards.
They have been charged in the Court of First Instance with forced robbery, physical assault and making criminal threats in addition to unlawful use of others' bank cards.
The case was reported at Al Barsha police station on July 10.
 
The 42-year-old complainant, a Lebanese working as a salesman, said during investigation that he had met a Russian woman in July on Tinder and they developed a relation online. She gave him her mobile number and invited him to have dinner at her place.
"I went to her flat and an African woman opened the door for me. When I asked about the woman with whom I had the date I was told she was inside, but when I got inside, another African woman came. They locked the door and told me to give them my money".
When he refused, three men came and snatched his mobile phone. They kept punching him to give whatever cash he had.
"I gave them Dh800. They snatched my car keys and went down the building to bring my wallet".
One of them went to a bank and withdrew Dh 101,000. When he came back, the other accused clicked the photo of the victim, threatening to come looking for him in case he reported them to the police.
But the victim lodged a complain against them as soon as they let him go.
The police arrested four of them shortly after. One woman remains at large.  
They admitted to the charges during public prosecution investigation.
A medical report showed the victim was left with a shoulder pain after the incident.
The trial was adjourned till December 6.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai