An Irish Senator is “horrified” to learn photographs of himself were used on a Tinder profile to scam women out of thousands of euros.
Mark Daly, a Fianna Fáil politician, said it was "unbeknown" to him that his image was being used by a scammer on the online dating app for “such awful activity especially where people have been defrauded”, the the Irish Mirror reports.
“I am genuinely shocked that my picture could be taken and used like this,” he said.
The Kerry local was initially alerted to the scam by New Zealand publication Stuff, who uncovered that two New Zealand women had been tricked into handing over more than £258,000 (NZ$500,000) each to the men they met through the dating site.
Joanna* says she was conned by a man named Dale Plumides, who sent a number of photos he claimed were him and his family, as well as fake videos.
The images actually turned out to be that of Mark Cain, a 54-year-old real estate agent in Dallas, Stuff reports.
Donna*, on the other hand, was allegedly sent images of Irish senator Mark Daly.
Mark was contacted by Stuff and was stunned at the thought of his image being used in a scam.
“Oh Christ OK… what the hell is that for?... I’m not a US citizen for a start…,” he told Stuff at the time.
Mark told the Irish Times on Sunday that the matter had been referred to gardai, the national police service of the Republic of Ireland.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know any more about how this happened at this moment but my hope is that the authorities will get to the bottom of this as soon as possible,” he said.
Joanne told Stuff it was clear the scam had impacted many people, not just the women targeted.
“I just feel so sorry for these men who had no idea their photos were being used in this way.”
Mark Daly served as Cathaoirleach of Seanad Eireann since June 2020.
He has served as Senator for the Administrative Panel since July 2007.
Tinder has been used by successful scammers in the past.
Michael Higgins used Tinder and Bumble looking for l ove and claimed to be a wealthy businessman with several luxury properties and cars.
But the 39-year-old had previously been convicted for conning people into buying cheap electronic goods, taking the money and then failing to deliver the items, the Daily Record reports.
A Portsmouth man likened to the notorious "Tinder swindler" scammed a millionaire out of nearly £150,000, but still hasn't paid her back as he allegedly can't access his Bitcoin fortune.
*Victims' identities have been kept anonymous
