It sometimes seems that here at Instinct Magazine, we haven’t even hit “publish” on a Grindr scam story before another Grindr scam pops up. Well, there’s yet a new one in town kids; maybe some of you have already encountered it, but if not, be aware and be smart.
The latest fraudulence to plague the often-troubled hookup app reportedly started in Ireland a few months ago but is now beginning to spread like a fungus into other international territories outside of the country.
The scam works like this:
A hot guy pops up into your DM’s to spark up a conversation. He seems legit and geographically local to where you are. He is not. He is a scam artist. Once you are engaged in conversation, he next shares a picture of himself with bruises all over his face from an alleged biased attack. He then expresses interest in meeting you but shares that he needs to protect himself from future attacks. If you want to meet, he asks that you first register at “LGID,” which is a registry where LGBTQ+ people can perform background checks on a potential hookup, in case that person has a violent past. Once you register and pass, you are classified as “Clean.”
I can honestly say that for me, this scammer would last about two seconds–if that long, during his attempt to defraud. Living in New York City, I suppose it keeps my bullsh*tometer pristinely calibrated at all times. However, many others around the world have fallen for this, and quickly.
In essence, it’s basically a monetary theft scam. Once the victim clicks the LGID link, they get directed to a fully functioning website that looks legitimate, where they are asked to pay a small fee to register. To make the scam seem even more on the up and up, the site promises that half of your registration fee will be donated victims of biased assaults.
It goes without saying, to “register,” you need to enter your personal information as well as a credit card. Multiple men in Ireland reported the site after registering and discovering money removed from their accounts without authorization.
Foreign security firms have declared the site a complete scam and warn users of Grinder to be cautious. The monetary theft is a significant concern, but experts also warn that the personal information obtained by the scammers could also be used to blackmail, extort, and harass victims.
So remember boys, when you get the urge to hook up, let the big head smartly think about moving forward before the little head carelessly gets you in a world of trouble.
I didn’t think it was condescending at all.
I very seldom like Corey Andrew articles. Always so condicending
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You spelled “Condescending” wrong.