Crimes linked to dating apps increase seven-fold

The number of alleged crimes in the UK potentially involving people’s use of dating apps Tinder and Grindr increased more than sevenfold in two years — including reports of rape, grooming, and attempted murder.

Experts said the findings were “shocking” and urged the authorities to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of meeting strangers on so-called hook-up sites.

They said users were vulnerable to “sextortion” and warned the figures may be “just the tip of the iceberg” as many victims will be too scared or embarrassed to contact police.

Just 55 reports of crimes in England and Wales mentioned Grindr or Tinder in 2013, according to figures released to the Press Association under the Freedom of Information Act.

This jumped to 204 in 2014 and 412 in the year to October 2015, according to the 30 police forces who gave figures. There were 277 crime reports in which Tinder was mentioned in 2015 – up from 21 in 2013. And 135 alleged crimes in which Grindr was mentioned were recorded in 2015, up from 34 reported in 2013. Tinder is used predominately by heterosexual daters while Grindr is a gay dating app.

Reports of violent and sexual crimes were the most common, with 253 allegations of violence against the person and 152 reports of sex offences.