A man who allegedly conned Tinder dates out of £18,218 has been charged with fraud.
Brandon Kiehm was arrested after police say they uncovered a scheme where he pretended to be a Goldman Sachs banker trying to support a sister who was dying of cancer.
Kiehm, a 35-year-old dog walker from Roosevelt Island, allegedly began his con in July 2015 under the guise of Tristan Acocella when he linked up with a woman on the dating app .
The charges state that in September Kiehm-as-Acocella told the woman due to a wallet theft, he needed to borrow money to pay for his sister’s medical treatment. She says she gave him £9,748.
A month later, another reported victim was asked for cash “because his mother was undergoing cancer treatment and he had been robbed”. She says she gave him £8,359.
The cheques he gave to pay back the money bounced, the woman report.
Kiehm has also been charged with stealing a debit card and opening a digital wallet account with Venmo on it, to which he allegedly charged £9,055.
Kiehm’s mother has confirmed that neither she nor her daughter has, or has ever had, cancer.
“The classic dating scams of yesteryear appear to be thriving online,” district attorney Cyrus R Vance Jr said in a statement.
“My office is seeing an increase in the number of scammers targeting singles online.”
The charges Kiehm faces are grand larceny, identity theft, and scheme to defraud.