Brazilian Tinder user is apprehended by the police for ‘scamming seven women’

A man suspected of defrauding at least seven women on Tinder has been arrested after leading police in a daylight high-speed chase through the streets of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo.

Renan Gomes, 35, reportedly met the victims between the ages of 34 and 40 on the dating app and dated them for a while before swindling them and disappearing.

Authorities were finally able to locate Gomes on a street in the municipality of São Bernardo do Campo in São Paulo on Thursday.

Video showed several flagged police cars chasing Gomes before rambling into his vehicle and causing him to crash.

The lead prosecutor in the case said there may be more women who have been defrauded by Renan Gomes

Gomes, who has been wanted since December 2021, set up multiple accounts on dating apps such as Tinder, Inner, Happn and Loovo, under the false name Augusto Keller, according to Brazilian news channel G1.

“He presents himself as a warm, considerate man, with stories about the absence of a close family or a heavy workload, a pretext that prevented the victim from being included in his social circle,” chief prosecutor Érika Pucci said. “However, he maintained personal meetings, including attending the victims’ residence and meeting their relatives, which also earned him their trust.”

Gomes would target upper middle class women and told them he worked as an engineer. He would also say that he was the son of German parents who were killed in a car accident in the Araćatuba, São Paulo.

Renan Gomes created accounts on dating apps such as Tinder, Inner, Happn and Loovo, under the false name Augusto Keller. His Tinder profile, which was still active at the time of his arrest, read: ‘I’ve been single for a year. I joined the app looking for a serious relationship, if you are looking for sex or fun skip my profile’

Authorities rammed their vehicles into Renan Gomes’ car before he crashed and was arrested in São Paulo on Thursday

According to authorities, Renan Gomes targeted middle to upper-class women between the ages of 34 and 40. He dated them for several months and once he gained their trust he would tell them about his financial problems and before he borrowed money and disappeared

News portal Tribuna Online reported that Gomes told his victims that he was single and had no children and that he lived in the upscale Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo City.

“I’ve been single for a year,” Gomes’ Tinder profile read. “I joined the app looking for a serious relationship, if you’re looking for sex or fun, skip my profile.”

Gomes seriously dated the women and got to know their relatives and close friends. Once he had their full confidence, he would sell them the sobbing story that he had financial problems with banks or that he owed back taxes to the special department of Brazil’s federal tax authorities.

According to Tribuna Online, one of the victims was a teacher who dated Gomes for four months in 2021 and became suspicious when he disappeared with about $28,000.

The woman told investigators she knew something wasn’t right when Gomes was constantly switching mobiles.

Gomes never deleted his dating apps and was still active on all of them at the time of his arrest.

Pucci said there could be more victims than the seven who had already come forward.

“The ruse he uses for his coups is precisely the manipulation of feelings,” Pucci said.