Move over Tinder Swindler, a man dubbed the “Romeo Crook” is proving that you should never take your eyes off your belongings when getting to know someone.
A judge has sentenced Peter Gray of West Yorkshire in England to 56 months behind bars after he scammed four women he met on a dating app out of a total of £80,000 ($100,192 USD) by secretly taking photos of their driver’s licenses and bank cards.
Now the women are warning people to never let their guard down after Gray managed to take out loans of tens of thousands of pounds in their name – even preventing one of the victims from moving into her new home.
One of the women who came forward told the BBC she was targeted by Gray on their third date.
“I left my bag on his dining table, he went in my bag and took pictures of my driving license and both my bank cards,” the woman identified under the pseudonym Jessica told the outlet.
Gray reportedly used her details to take out more than £9,000 (approx $11,000) in loans. Another victim, identified as Hannah, received a letter in the mail stating she was approved for a loan worth more than £20,000 (approx $25,000) just one week after ending the relationship with the conman.
In 2020, Gray matched with a woman who gave the pseudonym Elizabeth. She became suspicious after he sent flowers to her home despite the fact that she never shared her address. Unfortunately, the bank revoked Elizabeth’s mortgage two days before she moved into her new home. She later realized Gray took out a loan for over £10,000 (approximately $12,000) in her name.
Police started investigating Gray after two women he victimized invoked “Clare’s Law,” a U.K. procedure that in which someone can ask police to do background checks on their partner.
One thing all of the women have in common is they met Gray on the dating app Tinder. Tinder matches users to others based on geographic proximity. When it comes to safety, Tinder cautions people against sharing personal information, such as social security numbers, home or work addresses, and details about their daily routine.
According to the FTC, reported losses to romance scams total $1.14 billion, with an average loss of $2,000 per person.