For all of you crime lovers and internet sleuths, here’s a fun one for you from my date with my version of the tinder swindler - the bumble bamboozler!
Part 1 🚩
On Tuesday, I went on a 1st date with a man from Bumble who recently moved to NY from London via Toronto & South Africa. On the date, we found out we had friends who were friends, what a small world! There are some crazy people out there, so it is always comforting to have some accountability - but boy was I wrong!
We hit it off and decided to get dinner after drinks. When he went to pay for dinner, his Canadian credit card (chip and pin) didn’t seem to work, so I picked up the bill - what else were we going to do? However, his card worked afterward when we went to get cookies… I did not think anything of it, until I noticed that there was $20 missing from my kitchen table…
Did he steal the $20 and was I swindled to pay for dinner?
Part 2 🚩🚩
During our date, he mentioned he had a suite for the Eagles playoff game (purchased it as a marketing write-off for the sports hospitality company he owned) and invited me to join, also mentioning that was selling the remaining tickets. Turns out he had reserved a majority of the tickets to none other than our mutual friend of a friend!
My boss being a HUGE Eagles fan, the next morning I told her he had some of the highly demanded tickets and of course she wanted the tickets, so I contacted him to inquire. He said she would need to transfer $1300 for the 3 tickets directly to him that day since the tickets were online and may sell out. Once that was completed, she would get a confirmation from Suite Direct since tickets would not be released for another two days - Friday at 12 PM. $1300 is a lot of money, I had never heard of this site and it was sketchy he did not have the tickets already, so I asked for details/proof to make sure they were legit. They were simple questions - where are the seats, what are the seat #s?
He sent me a picture of the stadium with a box around a section, but when I asked which ones specifically were his, he continued brushing off my questions, saying I asked a lot of questions, reiterating that he needed payment to secure the tickets “like any business” and referencing he owned a sports hospitality company and has done this before. The only thing that somewhat legitimized the tickets was the fact that the friend of a friend was going to be in the suite and he showed me their hotel reservations for Saturday night before the game.
However, once I mentioned they were for my boss and pressed a bit more, he eventually said don’t worry & that he could sell the tickets for a lot more, ending with him saying:
“Let’s leave this thanks. I find it a little disrespectful. I own a sports hospitality company.”
His tone had changed from excited that I was helping him sell the tickets to trying to gaslight me to front the money for my boss since she was uncomfortable to then dodging my questions and saying he could sell them for more money.
Was he just trying to get our money?
The entire situation had peaked the interest of my team as they were seeing this all in real time. We went internet sleuthing looking into this all. Needless to say the outcome of our sleuthing his company’s website pretty much aligned with our thoughts that he was a fraudster.
Later that night, I also confirmed with my friend, who sold NFL suites, that NFL suite tickets are sold by a site linked to Ticketmaster and he should’ve had the tickets already and been able to transfer them. I acted concerned (in case he was legit), shared my insights and said he should look into this as he may have been swindled. He said he wasn’t worried and brushed it off again. Still in disbelief the tickets were real - this confirmed my thoughts and I just told him let me know the details for the weekend out of pure curiosity what he would say. That was the last thing I said to him and not surprisingly never got any details about going to the game.
Part 3 🚩🚩🚩
Yes, unfortunately there is a part 3.
On Thursday, out of concern for my friend’s friend, I called my friend and tell him what had transpired the past few days and to let his friend know I think he’s getting conned. He puts us in touch and I get on a call with his friend and recap everything that has happened. Thankfully the swindler did not make him pay upfront (like he did with me), but two of his friends already paid $700 each via PayPal. They had actually met a few weeks prior to our date, so I guess they felt comfortable enough to pay without seeing the tickets. After chatting about my experience and all the red flags, our friend is mostly convinced the tickets don’t exist, but is really hoping we are wrong and the tickets will be in his inbox on Friday. He had a lot on the line, his team was playing, ~10 friends were banking on this tickets and most importantly his rep!
The swindler has no idea we actually got in touch, let alone me sharing this story and they are supposed to get drinks on Thursday to discuss playoffs weekend in Philly, but he cancels - not a good sign.
It’s now 12 PM on Friday, still no update on the tickets… finally around 1 PM, the swindler says there is a delay and tickets will now be released Saturday at 10 AM (the game is on Sunday).
Now more convinced the tickets and this guy are fake, our friend calls the stadium and they have no record of the con artist’s name on the suites, in fact the suite #’s he mentioned he cant even afford. It’s official, our friend has been conned and now wants to get this con artist and the $1400 back!
In frustration and anger, he sets up a sting operation at a local bar with the bar owner & NYPD to confront this con artist. When the swindler arrives, he gets comfortable and orders a drink. Our friend then goes in for the kill and the swindler is blindsided and taken by surprise when he is called out and surrounded by our friend and his friends.
He is then questioned by the police and HANDCUFFED! From there he is taken to the local precinct, where our friend also goes and makes a statement and eventually gets the $1400 back!
Go Team Go! 🙌
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It is crazy to think that this all happened in a matter of only a few days:
Tuesday - Bumble 1st Date & dinner/$20 swindle
Wednesday - Con attempt to sell my boss fake tickets
Thursday - Con foiled and ruined
Friday - The gig is up & sting operation initiated - the con artist is arrested & money returned!
What a week!
If anyone wants to vet my dates moving forward or wants to send verified referrals, that would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you everyone for joining me in my fun crime sleuthing adventure & all the emotional support!