Police appear to interrupt ongoing crime: smart phone apps used to lure victims

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A NIGHT in July began with a call about a dating app used in an alleged robbery plot.

North County Police Cooperative body cam video revealed a victim hit in the head with a gun when he arrived at an area where he thought he would meet a woman.

You can hear an officer say, “They took his phone, keys, wallet, and cash and forced him to Cash App some money.”

Then police notice the crime may be continuing as an officer notices someone else called to the scene—with a different smart phone app.

“Who you here to pick up?” you can hear an officer ask a rideshare driver.

That driver gave the same address that the dating app victim showed up to. Police then noticed another rideshare driver also pulling up to the questionable address.

“There’s an Uber going there,” an officer said. “Go and follow that Uber because they’ve got a Lyft going to that same address where that Uber went to.”

It was on Ravenwood Avenue in the Pine Lawn neighborhood where three innocent people were all called to the street using three different smart phone applications. It’s unclear if the rideshare services were going to become additional robbery victims—or if one of them was intended to be an unwitting getaway driver for the criminals.

“There was a group of three suspects, and they were posing as a female on a dating app,” NCPC Cpl. Benjamin Santoyo said.

Santoyo said he remembers eight recent cases, some of which the victims were left in the street with nothing.

“They are taking their keys; they are taking their phones,” he said. “Now, they don’t have an opportunity to contact police right, and they’re also taking their car and then to take it a step further, in the event where some of those people are stripped naked.”

Police believe there may be many unreported cases, including those involving people lured into sex trafficking.

Those are cases Crisis Aid International’s Cindy Mallot sees. She told us, “Often times, it’s a tool to build that false sense of familiarity, which is a standard practice of a lot of traffickers.”

Crisis Aid International has offices in many area police departments to help victims of trafficking and exploitation.

“If someone’s doing that to you, they’re probably doing it to other people as well,” Mallot said. “You could really help protect someone that really desperately needs it, so please consider coming forward.”

From young girls to adult men, almost anyone can be a target for people hiding behind computer screens to tell stories that will only serve themselves.

For more information on trafficking or online safety tips, please visit www.ussafe.org

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