Victoria police have arrested 13 people as part of an investigation into a spate of “concerning attacks” on gay and bisexual men facilitated through dating apps such as Grindr.
In response to queries from Guardian Australia, police confirmed several arrests have been made in Melbourne over the past couple of months over allegations that groups of offenders have posed as legitimate users on apps to lure men to meetings.
Police alleged in a statement that men were “then allegedly assaulted, robbed, threatened and subjected to homophobic comments”.
Among the recent arrests were that of a 17-year-old boy from Mooroolbark who was charged with attempted armed robbery, intentionally causing injury and criminal damage.
Separately, a 17-year-old Avondale Heights boy was arrested – and released without charge pending summons – over blackmail allegations. Another teen, aged 16 and from Maidstone, was also released pending summons on a similar allegation.
Meanwhile, police said an 18-year-old from Craigieburn was arrested and charged with home invasion and recklessly causing injury. He was on bail and was due to face court again on 19 November.
There was no suggestion by police that they consider the different attacks to be linked to one another.
Victoria police said the investigations were ongoing and urged any victims to come forward to police.
“If you or someone you know has experienced this behaviour after using a dating app or other social media platform please make a report to police,” a spokesperson said.
Users on Grindr in Victoria now see a pop-up alert when opening the app advising them of safety precautions they can take to better protect themselves when meeting someone from the app.
Victoria police said Grindr has been cooperative with law enforcement requests, and with messaging users about safety concerns.
The Victoria-based sexual health organisation, Thorne Harbour Health, has previously advised users meeting via Grindr but moving to other apps like Snapchat to turn off location sharing on Snapchat, and urged people report any alleged attacks to police.
It said people can also minimise risk by meeting in a public place such as a bar, restaurant, or sex-on-premises venue, as well as using features like “Find My” on iPhone to share location with a trusted friend when arranging to meet someone.
