November 3, 2025
Protected practices embrace assembly in public locations, informing a buddy of your whereabouts, avoiding inviting contacts into houses earlier than belief is established, and being cautious when monetary transactions are requested.
Courting apps like Grindr and Loads Of Fish, websites usually utilized by homosexual males, have gotten platforms for crime. Two latest armed robberies tied to relationship apps in Brooklyn, New York, and Atlanta are the most recent incidents in homosexual men-targeting schemes.
On Oct. 23 in Brooklyn, a 47-year-old Flatbush resident organized a gathering by way of a relationship app at his East twenty first Avenue condo. He instructed police two masked males in all black compelled their method into his house. The unnamed sufferer was then held at gunpoint and assaulted. Moreover, his assailants fled with valuables. The sufferer was hospitalized and stays in secure situation. No arrests have been made, Bronx Information reported. Constructing residents expressed alarm on the constructing’s ongoing lack of safety.
“From a security perspective, I feel that the constructing might be doing much more for us,” one tenant who requested to remain nameless mentioned. “We’ve reported points with packages being stolen.”
In one other on-line relationship assault, Atlanta police arrested 26-year-old Randarrius Jackson after a person met him on a relationship website referred to as Mega Private at The Renaissance Resort close to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport.
In response to the sufferer, Jackson displayed a firearm, compelled the sufferer to ship funds by way of Money App and Apple Pay, and stole his debit card and PIN. Police say the sufferer misplaced over $5,000. Jackson now faces fees together with armed theft and aggravated assault, based on Fox 5.
The sufferer solicited lodge employees for assist and was saved safely within the institution’s kitchen till police arrived. Jackson was noticed on lodge surveillance leaving the lodge and was subsequently caught and arrested in Lenox Sq. shortly thereafter.
These instances mirror a broader nationwide development of deception and violence rising from digital platforms. In response to the FBI’s Web Crime Criticism Middle, cyber-enabled crime losses exceeded $16.6 billion in 2024. The determine is a 33% improve over the earlier 12 months.
Regulation enforcement officers and consumer-safety specialists urge these assembly on-line to deal with any in-person meetup like a transaction. Finest practices embrace assembly in public locations, informing a buddy of your whereabouts, avoiding inviting contacts into houses earlier than belief is established, and being cautious when monetary transactions are requested.
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