Main image via Model Management
Ah, Tinder, the app where your hopes and dreams for true love go to die. While there have been a couple of Tinder success stories, it’s no secret that a lot of the people on Tinder are liars, cheaters, creeps, cat-fishers and serial dine-and-dash daters.
There’s just something about the app’s weird combination of anonymity, blind hope, desperation and judging a book entirely by its cover, that makes it the perfect place for deception—something a young woman in New York took full advantage of by pulling the biggest Tinder scam in the history of online dating.
According to New York Magazine, Natasha Aponte used Tinder to con dozens of men into believing they were meeting her for a one-on-one date in Union Square. She planted the seeds of deception about a month prior to the scam when she matched with a boatload of dudes on Tinder, and then used the same script on all of them.
The scam came to light after one of the guys she duped, tweeted a now-viral thread about falling for the date scam.
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Apparently, she dropped off the grid for a couple of weeks, then she resurfaced, asking the dudes if they wanted to meet her at Union Square in New York for what appeared to be a one-on-one date.
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
When they showed up, they found themselves in a sea of expectant guys who’d all matched with Natasha on Tinder—they just didn’t know it yet.
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
After a good 35 minutes, Aponte sashayed onto the platform and finally let her ‘dates’ know what in the world was going on.
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
“Do you have what it takes to compete against everyone here to win a date with me?” Aponte called out to the crowd, eliciting some unpleasantries from a few disgruntled dudes.
She told the dudes things that would disqualify them from taking her out, including things like anyone who is already in a relationship, is “a tourist or doesn’t live in this country”, is “named Jimmy”, is “looking just to hook up”, or is “under 5’10”. She also removed anyone with a long beard, khakis, Tom shoes or was bald. Honestly, these are all pretty reasonable rules if you asked us. At least the girl knows what she doesn’t want, right?
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Image via @bvdhai/Twitter
Once she’d cut the number of candidates down through her series of ‘eliminations’, she apparently made the remaining guys do some sprints, push-ups, and put them all in a line to swipe left and right on them IRL.
Since the stunt, Aponte has made her Instagram private. New York Magazine attempted to get in touch with her, but she just directed them to Rob Bliss Creative, a viral-video agency… which points to the whole stunt probably being nothing but a scheme to achieve viral glory. Whatever it was, it appeared to be a success. Just look at the number of guys that showed up for the date.
Image via The Guardian
Image via VICE
Info via New York Magazine