Police in Victoria are investigating a series of assaults and robberies that have occurred via people meeting through the dating app Grindr.
Police are reportedly looking into a least five incidents that have occurred over the last two months where victims have allegedly been assaulted, robbed, threated and subjected to homophobic comments.
Police are appealing for any other victims who have not reported crimes to come forward.
“We’re thoroughly investigating these concerning incidents,” Hume Crime Investigation Unit Senior Constable Grace Fryer said.
“We urge anyone with information to make a report to police.”
“We know this has been a distressing situation for the victims involved. This is why we’re working tirelessly to track down these offenders and hold them to account,” Fryer said.
“The more we know – the more we can do something about it and keep victims safe.
“If you or someone you know has experienced this behaviour after using a dating app or other social media platform please come forward.”
The police have shared that the offenders assaulted the victims before stealing belongings including bags, phones and wallets.
Four of these attacks have occurred in public places with the fifth in the victim’s house after offenders used geotagging to identify the location.
The Melbourne incidents follow news that police in the ACT have recently been investigating two assault cases linked to the Grindr app.
Similar cases have occurred in Perth in recent years.
In 2017 two young men pleaded guilty over a series of assaults on gay men they lured via online dating apps. Men were approached on Grindr and then lured to public spaces in the Thornlie area with the promise of sex. Once they arrived at the rendezvous they were attacked. One victim was left with bleeding on the brain, while another was struck with a modified baseball bat.
The following year there was a series of assaults of gay men in Perth’s northern suburbs where men were lured to desolate parks late at night. A group of eight teenage students were later convicted over the assaults and robberies.
In 2021 in two separate incidents men were assaulted after being lured to a late night rendezvous on a building site in Gosnells. Police later arrested and charged a 26 year-old man over the assaults.
