I live in a townhouse close to downtown. Over the last week or so, my neighbors and I have seen a lot of young men showing up to our neighborhood in the evenings, and standing behind our garages focused on their phones. At first we thought these guys might be package thieves, but after observing for a while we realized they were not stealing anything, were well dressed compared to package thieves we've seen in the past, and were instead just focused on their phones.

After talking to a couple of them, we have learned that these guys are being lured there by a girl on a dating app, and then once they arrive at the garage, the girl asks them to send her money, they send the money, then the girl ghosts them.

It seemed weird at first. While I've certainly heard of online scams of people finding ways to send money, the luring the guy to the garage of a random townhouse near downtown, just to ghost them part at first didn't make sense. But it seems that there is some psychological benefit to the scammer, where the guys are more likely to send her the money because they've already invested the time and effort to go to where they think this girl lives.

As of early December 2024, the girl is giving the name Bri, a phone number with a 337 area code, saying she's 19 years old, and is on the app 3F. But I'm sure all of that can easily change and this person can just assume a new fake identity, number, app, etc, so do not be fooled even if this information does not match.

Please share with any guys you know that are on dating apps to help stop this scam! Also, pursuant to the sub's rules, please direct info on criminals to police.