Durham police warn dating app users after suspect allegedly pretended to be an officer | 24CA News
Durham regional police are warning relationship app customers to train warning when on-line after a girl was sexually assaulted after assembly with somebody she met on an app, who led her to imagine he was a police officer.
Tech analyst Carmi Levy says with the rampant use of relationship apps and expertise, conditions like this are sadly going to be extra widespread if precautions aren’t taken.
“We have to learn to lead with cynicism. In other words, when you meet someone online, assume they are not who they say they are, and make them prove that they are in fact who they say they are,” stated Levy.
Levy says earlier than planning to fulfill in particular person, earlier than even giving your cellphone quantity away, you need to do what he calls “digital due diligence.”
“Do some digging, creep them online, find them on social media, Google them,” stated Levy. “Otherwise anyone can say they are anybody and you can get into a lot of trouble that way.”
On Tuesday, March 28, police say officers had been known as to analyze a sexual assault in Pickering, after a girl met somebody on-line who recognized himself as a police officer, and trusted him. The suspect attended the sufferer’s house, which resulted in an assault and sexual assault.
“There was a male online, trying to meet women and he was identifying himself as a police officer,” stated Sgt. Joanne Bortoluss with Durham regional police. “He would gain their trust, and they would go on a date, and the circumstances of that date did result in an assault and a sexual assault.”
Through the investigation, officers concluded that the suspect was not a police officer. However, Bortoluss says the pictures posted on-line would lead anybody to imagine the suspect was a cop.
“His way to gain trust was to identify himself as a police officer,” she stated.
Levy says because the starting of digital time, it’s been widespread for folks to assert to be another person. But now, it’s rather a lot simpler.
“Thanks to the pandemic, thanks to the rapid spread of digital dating apps, this has become rampant, and unfortunately the tools have never been more sophisticated for a perpetrator to hide under the cloak of anonymity and project their personality somewhere else and pretend they are someone they aren’t,” stated Levy.
Levy stated when swiping on-line, it’s useful to maintain a glance out for pink flags.
“If they give you a name and some background information, and you Google the name and look them up on social media and LinkedIn, and you can’t find them, that should be your first, last and only red flag that you shouldn’t be meeting up with this person in person.”
While most relationship app customers are on-line to fulfill their particular somebody, it’s additionally the right place for a cyber prison.
“The scary thing about online dating is that it’s become a very efficient way for perpetrators and cyber criminals to source huge amounts of private information and data,” stated Levy.
And with regards to your individual relationship profile, Levy stated it’s vital to watch out with what info you make accessible immediately, till you’ve got correctly vetted the particular person.
“Don’t include anything that would make it easy to identify who you are or where you live, for example, your last name, as well as other identifying pieces of data.”
Police didn’t specify the app the suspect and sufferer met on, or if they’d met in particular person a separate time, previous to the assault.
“We are concerned there are other victims, he was active on various dating sites,” stated Bortoluss.
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Bortoluss says for this reason defending your self on-line is vital.
“Reminder that you don’t know who you’re speaking to, and whatever steps you can take to identify that person, take them.”
Toronto-based relationship professional Shannon Tebb, @shannyinthecity on social media, says there are different pink flags to look out for when swiping by way of the apps, like profiles which can be too good to be true.
“The guy has all these glamour shots, looks like a model — these could potentially be fake profiles,” stated Tebb. “Another red flag is no photos, maybe one photo of them.”
The relationship professional says it’s vital to comply with your intestine.
“Ladies and gentlemen, follow your intuition. If there’s something in your gut saying something’s off, this isn’t right, trust it.”
Ahmed Moustafa, 36, of Toronto, has been charged with assault, sexual assault and two counts of impersonating a peace officer. He has since been launched on an endeavor.
Police wish to guarantee there aren’t any additional victims, and are asking anybody who might have interacted with the suspect to come back ahead.
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