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Tinder users, beware: A man in New York City has been indicted for supposedly scamming two women out of $26,000 after he met them on Tinder.
35-year-old Brandon Kiehm allegedly lied to the women on the dating app that he needed the money for his sister's cancer treatments, according to a statement by District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. from the Manhattan DA's office.
When a New York police detective questioned Kiehm's mother, she reportedly said "neither she nor her daughter currently have or have had cancer," according to The Guardian.
Kiehm allegedly told the two Tinder women he worked in finance and went under the alias Tristan Acocella on the app, according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Guardian.
According to the complaint, he began dating one of the women back in August 2015 for several months and told her he needed the money "because his sister was undergoing cancer treatment and because his wallet had been stolen." She gave him approximately $14,000.
The second woman dated him for several weeks in October 2015 and gave him $12,000 for the supposed cancer treatments, according to the Manhattan DA's office.
Kiehm then allegedly wrote both women checks for the amount they gave him - then the checks bounced.
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"The classic dating scams of yesteryear appear to be thriving online," District Attorney Vance said in his statement. "I urge New Yorkers to be on alert when using these applications, and to be wary of those who would take advantage of personal relationships for financial gain."
According to the FBI, so-called "romance scams" were responsible for more than $82 million in victim losses in the last six months of 2014, with the main target being single women.