DENVER – Well, she should have ‘swiped to the left’. But instead, a Denver woman fell for a man she met on Tinder who later ended up stealing thousands of dollars in electronics from her.
Tinder is considered the fastest growing dating app in America with an estimated 50 million active users, according to the New York Times. The app pretty much connects you with potential dates nearby.
‘Jane Doe’, as we’ll call her for privacy reasons, thought she met someone nice when she stumbled upon a guy named ‘John’ on Tinder. Jane lives in Denver’s Capitol Hill section.
“He seemed like a genuine person,” she said. “There was nothing that was super obvious that would show what would happen”.
Unfortunately, a few weeks in she realized he wasn’t who she thought he was. One day she left ‘John’ at her home alone for an hour.
“I get back and I see my Apple TV is gone from the shelf and I see my iPad is gone,” she explained.
Police say ‘John’ also stole her expensive Mac Book as well as some of her roommate’s belongings. On top of that, ‘John’ wasn’t his real name. It’s actually Kenneth David Burrell. Burrell has had several run-ins with the law before.
About 1 out of 12 online dating users experience some sort of abuse online and only about a one-third of them report it,” explained Dave Johnson.
Johnson is an attorney who authored a book about digital dating. He has some suggestions for people who use apps like Tinder:
- Keep things private
- Get to know someone online before meeting them offline
- Watch for Red Flags
- Act as a junior detective; research the person you’re talking to online
“You can cross check that with Facebook and cross check them on Linkedin and you can compare the information with the information they’re publishing on Tinder,” Johnson said.
As for ‘Jane’, after this experience she’s giving up on online dating for a while.
Denver Police have a warrant out for Burrell. He’s wanted on theft charges. Investigators believe he fled Colorado and is currently living in California.