Man who posed as woman sentenced for Tinder scam

A man who posed as a woman online before scamming his male victim out of more than £9,000 and spending it on his horse has been handed a suspended sentence.

Adam Mowle deceived the man using a fake persona on dating app Tinder, asking him for money to help with financial difficulties.

The 34-year-old, of Larksfield Crescent, in Harwich, Essex, admitted acquiring criminal property.

At Ipswich Magistrates' Court, Mowle was given a 12-month prison sentence, but suspended for two years.

He was also told to repay all of the money to the victim, to complete 25 days worth of rehabilitation sessions, and pay £687 in costs.

Mowle used the name Jenna Smith to scam the man, who lives in Suffolk, out of £9,165.

The victim sent the money in 78 different transactions over an 11-month period between January and November 2019.

The two exchanged intimate messages and images and had conversations about one day moving in together.

At times, Mowle's bogus Tinder profile claimed they were seriously ill, their father had cancer, and that they were suffering from money troubles.

But Mowle was actually using the money to cover his living expenses and the upkeep of his horse.

Fred Batstone, prosecuting, said Mowle's victim was vulnerable and had not long gone through a divorce.

He also said Mowle changed his voice when the two had conversations over the phone and described his deceiving as being "sophisticated and complex".

"The defendant created a web of different lies, but the defendant thwarted any attempt by the victim to meet physically," he told the court.

Clare Lockwood, defending, told the court Mowles had suffered "incidents of trauma" and had been "struggling with his mental health".

She also said he was "devastated, ashamed, angry and upset" about what he had done, but "genuinely thought he was Jenna Smith".

"It's extremely complicated and not something any of us would be able to understand," she said.

The victim admitted the fraud had "destroyed" and "ruined" his life.

"I felt the need to gamble to try and get something back. This led to me losing £93,000 and going into a deep state of depression," he said, in a statement read to the court.

He added that the scam had led to "spiralling depression" and ruined any chance of him having a relationship due a "lack of trust".

The victim, whose own dad has cancer, sought the help of Suffolk Trading Standards in April 2020, which investigated the case.

Senior trading standards officer Lee Nunn said: "While the sentence today may not fully assist him in closure, at least Mr Mowle has been convicted of a calculated romance fraud."

Tinder told the BBC its top priority was "the safety of users" and it was "continuously investing in tools and features" to improve that.

"We encourage people to look for the blue tick, which shows a user has completed our photo verification process to confirm they match their profile photos," a spokesperson said.

"We encourage users to review our safety tips, which they can access through the app and on our website."

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