Inside chilling rise of dating app killers who lure matches to their deaths… & why it’s ‘impossible’ to stop them

MURDERERS and dangerous criminals are using popular dating apps, chillingly matching with unsuspecting users who are just looking for love. Many sinister killers lure in innocent victims through dating apps like Grindr, Tinder, Bumble and Hinge – and experts have told The Sun it is still almost impossible to stop them in the UK. Grace Millane, 22, from Essex, was murdered on a Tinder date in 2018 The university graduate died on the eve of her 22nd birthday FacebookJesse Shane Kempson was jailed for Grace’s murder[/caption] Brit Grace Millane is among those to have been killed on a date by a man met through such an app. Graduate Grace, from Essex, was murdered by Jesse Kempson on the eve of her 22nd birthday while backpacking in New Zealand in 2018. Another woman told The BBC she went on a date with Kempson days after he’d murdered Grace, during which he told a chilling anecdote about a pal who accidentally killed his girlfriend during consensual sex. “

General Aug 31, 2025 0 2 Add to Reading List

Inside chilling rise of dating app killers who lure matches to their deaths… & why it’s ‘impossible’ to stop them

MURDERERS and dangerous criminals are using popular dating apps, chillingly matching with unsuspecting users who are just looking for love.

Many sinister killers lure in innocent victims through dating apps like Grindr, Tinder, Bumble and Hinge – and experts have told The Sun it is still almost impossible to stop them in the UK.

Photo of Grace Millane. — Grace Millane, 22, from Essex, was murdered on a Tinder date in 2018

Photo of Grace Millane in graduation attire. — The university graduate died on the eve of her 22nd birthday

Jesse Shane Kempson, Grace Millane murder suspect.

Jesse Shane Kempson was jailed for Grace’s murder[/caption]

Brit Grace Millane is among those to have been killed on a date by a man met through such an app.

Graduate Grace, from Essex, was murdered by Jesse Kempson on the eve of her 22nd birthday while backpacking in New Zealand in 2018.

Another woman told The BBC she went on a date with Kempson days after he’d murdered Grace, during which he told a chilling anecdote about a pal who accidentally killed his girlfriend during consensual sex.

“What we know now is this could have been him testing out his story on me,” she said, with Kempson attempting to use a similar defence when Grace’s murder came to light.

The woman walked away early from the date and fears she otherwise would have been a victim.

“I think the invention of dating apps is a wonderful thing and I wouldn’t want to live in a world without that, but I just wish for a world where women don’t have to think about their safety all the time,” she said.

Another woman would go on to claim to have met Kempson, also on Tinder, in 2016, saying he eventually turned “very violent” and threatened to kill her with a knife.

However, despite reporting him to cops, they failed to take action – which could have prevented Grace’s death two years later.

In the US, Tinder has an optional service where people can pay for a criminal background check for their peace of mind before meeting a stranger on a date.

But in the UK, there are no such safeguards, and there are calls for apps and the police to work closer together to crack down and help user safety.

David Jones, director of Reveal Private Investigations, told The Sun this week: “Predators will always take advantage of the minimal sign-up requirements on dating apps.

“When all that’s needed is an email address or a phone number you have the perfect environment for disposable accounts.

“A predator can set up multiple profiles within minutes, vanish the moment suspicion arises, and reappear under a new alias.

“That cycle makes it almost impossible for victims or even the platforms themselves to track repeat offenders.”

Dating Apps Reporting Project

An investigation by the Dating Apps Reporting Project created a series of Tinder accounts that were reported for sexual assault and then banned.

But it found that banned users could easily create new Tinder accounts with the exact same name, birthday and profile photos.

They were also able to sign up for Hinge, OKCupid and Plenty of Fish without changing their details.

The probe pointed to the case of American cardiologist Stephen Matthews, who was convicted in October 2024 and sentenced to 158 years behind bars.

He drugged, assaulted and raped several women he lured in through Hinge.

They reported him but he was able to return to the app time and time again until his arrest.

Christopher Bolton

Christopher Bolton, 43, assaulted Rachel Lynch, 24, in Lanarkshire, Scotland, by holding a pillow over her head and stamping on her after they met online.

She fled into the streets, wearing blood-soaked underwear and taking refuge with neighbours as the cops were called.

He was convicted of assaulting her – but was back on dating apps within just a few days of his conviction.

The brute walked free from court with only community service and a year of social work supervision.

Rachel warned other women that he was “back on Bumble and back on Tinder”, terrified that others could go through a similar ordeal.

Bolton posted on his profile that he wants to avoid “controllers and nut jobs”, according to the Daily Record.

Other violent men have used dating apps as a tool to snare innocent victims for sick crimes.

Stephen Port – The Grindr Killer

Photo of Stephen Port, who was jailed for life for murdering four men.

Stephen Port, who was jailed for life for the murder of four men he met on dating site Grindr[/caption]

a man with a bald head sits at a table with another man

Port during a police interview[/caption]

CCTV image of Stephen Port and Jack Taylor walking together.

CCTV of Port (right) with 25-year-old Jack Taylor on their way to the serial killer’s one-bedroom flat[/caption]

Serial killer and rapist Stephen Port, who was dubbed the Grindr Killer, scoured various dating apps to scout out victims and meet young men.

He drugged them with GHB before raping and killing those he lured in.

Between 2014 and 2015, he murdered four men – Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth, and Jack Taylor.

Basic errors by detectives left Port free to drug and sexually assault more than a dozen men – and eight Met Police officers are being investigated for gross misconduct over the handling of the investigation.

Relatives of his victims have slammed the force over “institutional homophobia” in the botched investigation.

Jack Crawley

Security guard Jack Crawley, 19, also used Grindr to find his victims.

He brutally killed dad-of-two Paul Taylor, and planned on killing more.

The homophobic psychopath battered him to death in a frenzied bloodbath assault after luring him to a remote lane near Carlisle for sex.

The 56-year-old victim, from Annan, Dumfriesshire, suffered multiple blows to his skull that shattered it into hundreds of pieces before he was torched and dumped at nearby Finglandrigg Wood.

Two months after the slaughter, Crawley, from Carlisle, skipped bail to attack another gay man near York using carbon copy tactics to isolate his victim before smacking his skull with a hammer.

The body of married dad-of-two Mr Taylor – whose sexual interest in men was concealed from his family – was eventually found in a skeletal state.

Crawley, partly inspired by gay serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, denied murder and attempted murder at Carlisle Crown Court but was convicted, unanimously, after a harrowing two week trial.

Anthony Lowe

Anthony Lowe, 46, had 140 previous convictions when he created his Plenty of Fish account.

He pretended he was a 36-year-old called Tony Moore – 10 years younger than he actually was.

Less than eight weeks after meeting Katherine Smith, 26, he knifed her 33 times in Ely, Cardiff in a “ferocious” attack.

She believed she’d met the love of her life – but instead he left her lying in a pool of blood.

After killing the young woman, he took her car and began approaching other women online – commenting that they looked “stunning”.

Chillingly, as one asked “I thought you were in a relationship?” he said “No, I am single now”.

Lowe, of Cardiff, admitted murder and was jailed for life – but questions were raised as to why he was allowed on the website in the first place.

Katherine’s mother said: “I always thought that monsters were just in movies, but now I know that monsters are real.”

Bennet von Vertes

Bennet von Vertes, the wealthy son of a Swiss gallery owner who beat his British friend to death[/caption]

Photo of Alex Morgan and his mother, Katja Faber.

Alex Morgan and his mother Katja Faber[/caption]

In 2014, drug-crazed Swiss aristocrat Bennet von Vertes bludgeoned 23-year-old Brit Alex Morgan to death using a candlestick.

The toff horrifically then shoved the heavy candlestick down his throat during a brutal attack in Kusnacht, Zurich.

High on a cocktail of sleeping tablets, cocaine and ketamine, the art dealer savagely bumped off his friend who he had met at Regent’s University in London.

The vile killer got away with serving just nine years of his 12-year sentence.

And upon his release, he brazenly set up accounts on dating apps where he reportedly bragged about his conviction, according to The Standard.

A woman on Bumble reported seeing Von Vertes on the app, and one even unwittingly ended up on a date with him after he used a fake name.

Terrifyingly, he openly boasted about being a convicted killer before trying to convince her to come with him to a hotel room.

She fled after pretending to nip to the loo.

At one point, the killer even had “catch me if you can” on his Instagram which has since been removed.

Carl Langdell

Photo of Katie Locke in graduation attire. — 23-year-old Katie Locke, who was killed by a man she met on Plenty of Fish

In 2017, vile Carl Langdell was jailed for a minimum of 26 years after confessing to the horrifying murder of 23-year-old Katie Locke.

He admitted murdering the teacher on their first date after meeting on website Plenty of Fish where twisted Langdell lied about being a lawyer, even setting up a fake LinkedIn account.

St Albans crown court had heard that, on the night of her murder, Katie had texted her friend to say her night was going well on their first date.

Prosecutors said Langdell was a mentally ill fantasist who once told a psychiatric nurse he wanted to murder a woman then strip and rape her body.

Langdell, 30, was found with a seriously injured throat at the maximum security Wakefield prison, West Yorkshire and died in 2021.

Christopher Harkins

Christopher Harkins was handed a 12-year sentence[/caption]

A man dubbed the Scottish Tinder swindler also used the apps to find victims.

Christopher Harkins was handed a 12-year sentence at the High Court in Kilmarnock in for crimes of rape, sexual and physical abuse and fraud, committed between 2013 and 2019.

He targeted single women on dating sites and portrayed himself as a successful businessman, scamming them out of £214,000.

The brute, from Newlands, Glasgow, preyed on 10 women after meeting them on the apps.

He raped one at his flat in Cumbernauld, attacked two others and filmed two women in intimate situations without their consent before sending them the graphic content.

His crimes also took place in the Airdrie, Dumbarton, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley and Stirling areas.

Clare's Law

Police data shows that more than 6,000 people reported offences linked to dating apps between 2017 and 2021, and one in five were sexual offences.

The tragic death of Clare Wood, who was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend in 2009, prompted the creation of Clare’s Law.

Clare, 36, from Salford, was strangled and set on fire by George Appleton, 40, after meeting him on Facebook.

She had no idea he had earlier been jailed for three years for harassing another woman.

Also known as Domestic Violence Closure Scheme, Clare’s Law is intended to provide information that could protect someone from being a victim of attack.

The scheme allows the police to disclose information on request about a partner’s previous history of domestic violence or violent acts.

If you have concerns about your partner’s background, you can apply for disclosure by going to the police.

You can visit your local station in person, call 101 or speak to an officer on the street.

Once you’ve made contact, the police may invite you in for a chat to put in the application.

But this is difficult if you’ve met a stranger on an app who may have only used a first name – or even a fake identity.

Expert Mr Jones went on to tell The Sun: “Stronger ID verification, such as requiring government-issued identification or biometric checks, would create accountability.

“Knowing that their identity can be tied to their actions acts as a natural deterrent for those intending to misuse these platforms.

“Many apps also encourage and/or require users to share their location to match with people within a certain proximity to them.

“While that might seem harmless for casual dating, it hands predators the tools to triangulate a user’s real-world location with alarming accuracy.

“By cross-referencing movement patterns, they can predict routines, pinpoint workplaces, or even track where someone lives.

“That turns what should be a convenience feature into a serious safety risk.

“The solution lies in tighter controls around location-sharing.

“Apps should only display broad regions rather than precise distances, and they should default to limiting that data unless a user actively chooses to share it.

“More explicit safety warnings about the risks of location features would also empower people to make informed decisions.

“Without these safeguards, offenders will continue to weaponise basic app functions against unsuspecting victims.”

Verification process

Johanna Mason, CEO of dating app Cherry, said there are certain steps companies can take to help tackle this.

“At Cherry, every user must complete a verification process by submitting a selfie that is matched against their official ID and cross-referenced with the images uploaded to their profile. This ensures interactions remain authentic and trustworthy.

“Other apps like Bumble now use Deception Detector, an AI model that automatically blocks up to 95 per cent of fake or scam accounts, and Tinder has expanded its ID checks and selfie verification in the UK this year too.

“By combining advanced AI filters, biometrics and easy one‑tap reporting tools, dating platforms are stepping up their efforts to protect users from romance scams and financial fraud.

“The issue is certainly difficult to police, and at Cherry we strongly advocate for apps to collaborate more closely by sharing data on banned profiles, ensuring scammers are effectively blocked from simply moving onto other platforms.”

A spokesperson from Match Group – the company behind Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, and Match.com – said: “Any report of harm or violence is deeply concerning and should never happen—on our platforms or anywhere.

“As part of our portfolio-wide safety approach, when we take action on a report and identify an associated account on any of our platforms, we ban that account across all Match Group apps.

“We are committed to continuously strengthening our safety efforts, investing in cutting-edge technology, and working closely with regulators and safety experts to protect our global community.”