Two men were convicted in London after using Grindr to trick victims, break into their homes and steal cell phones and money.
Two men were sentenced in the United Kingdom after it was found that they used the dating application Grindr to fake encounters, enter the homes of their victims and commit financial theft and fraudreported judicial authorities in London.
According to the Metropolitan Policethe accused made appointments through the platform and met with the victims at different properties in the British capital, where they carried out a carefully planned form of deception.
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This is how the deception modality operated
The investigations, reported by the British newspaper Mirrorestablished that the convicted Rahmat Khan Mohammadi23 years old, and Mohammed Bilal Hotak27, asked victims to play music or videos on platforms such as YouTube from their mobile phones.
This step was key to the crime, since while the content was being played, the cell phone remained unlocked. Subsequently, the criminals used distraction tactics —such as asking the victim to leave the room— to quickly leave the home taking the devices.
Theft, fraud and judicial convictions
According to the Prosecutor’s OfficeOnce outside the property, the accused carried out online payments and contactless transactionsin addition to money transfers from stolen phones to accounts under your control.
The authorities detailed that Mohammadi committed at least 11 robberies between October 2024 and March 2025while Hotak participated in several crimes between October and December 2024. The case was resolved in the Isleworth Crown Courtwhere Mohammadi was sentenced to five years in prison and Hotak to three and a half years.
During the hearing, the judge Adenike Balogun stated that the accused caused a deep psychological impact on the victims by violating the trust of those who allowed them to enter their private space.
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The court analyzed whether the facts could be considered hate crimes. Although the Prosecutor’s Office argued that the victims were selected for their sexual orientationthe judge concluded that the criminals mainly took advantage of the perceived vulnerability and the access offered by the application.
After hearing the sentence, the British authorities reiterated the call to take extreme precautions when using dating applications, avoid sharing personal information and not allow access to mobile devices with strangers.
