As more people begin to take an interest in cryptocurrency, a worrying trend is emerging.

Scammers, posing as cryptocurrency experts or professionals are zoning in on a new type of victim – the savvy young dater.

It seems nobody is immune to the lies some scammers are peddling; whilst older people have traditionally been the more likely victims in romance swindles, the growing interest in cryptocurrency is feeding into a new type of target.

Just this year, a Reddit user posted about an experience in which an attractive man had approached them on Hinge and seemed to be the real deal. A general chat soon turned to the subject of investing in cryptocurrency and the would-be victim was invited to participate in an “investment opportunity” via a link.

The poster however was quick to check up on the validity of the link and whilst it appeared to be directed to a genuine crypto exchange, there were a few minor differences in the address of the real website compared to the one in the link.

The poster quickly put an end to the conversation with no money lost, but others haven’t been so fortunate.

A UK woman toldThe Independent that she’d met a man on Hinge whilst isolating due to Covid.

He hadn’t intrigued her too much at first, but as she was vulnerable due to her isolation, his friendly, warm texts soon became an important part of her day and crucially, she began to trust him.

The victim did carry out some background checks on him – as any savvy online dater does; she reverse searched his photographs to ensure they weren’t stolen and she checked into his employment which was with a well-known Bitcoin trading company.

Everything seemed in order so when he invited her to take part in an investment opportunity, she agreed.

She put a small amount of money into the scheme and began seeing minor returns in her bank account on a weekly basis.

This spurred her on and she invested more – again, she saw the rewards immediately, so shortly after this second investment, she transferred all of her savings.

Within days her “friend” was telling her that there were legal problems and she needed to add more cash or she’d be in trouble with the law.

It was at this point that the woman realised she’d been conned and reported the problem to authorities.

This type of scam relies on the long game. Victims are reeled in over a period of time, they even receive money from their scammer, so the trust is slowly but surely built.

Then, when the rug is pulled out, the shock and disbelief set in.

With dating apps like Hinge growing in popularity since the pandemic, it’s vital that users are made aware of the associated risks.

The apps also have a responsibility to ensure users are better informed of the risks involved.

Let’s face it though, Match Group, which owns a major portion of Hinge, doesn’t have the best record when it comes to caring for its users or its staff.

It’s not that long ago that Sean Rad, the then CEO of Tinder, another Match Group app, was catapulted into the eye of the storm due to his incrediblypoor attempts at managing his own reputation.

Rad was fresh out of asexual harassment lawsuit brought about by fellow Tinder executive Whitney Wolfe Herd, when in a misguided attempt to clear up a few “misconceptions” about himself, he made comments which painted him in an even worse light.

Firstly, he made what some people saw as “veiled threats” to a journalist who’d been outspoken against Tinder’s moral values and then he dug himself an even deeper hole incommenting on a supposedly infatuated supermodel who was “really, really gorgeous” and trying her best to sleep with him.

The question is, how can the public expect to feel safe and secure on apps like Hinge when the very people who are or have been placed at their helms, are so devoid of moral values themselves?