A Dubai-based chef lost Dh 10,000 (Rs 2.40 lakh) while he was on a date with a woman he met via a dating app, Bumble.
The victim has been identified as 39-year-old Blake, a European expat. The chef matched with the Russian woman on Bumble, and they began a conversation on WhatsApp within hours. According to Khaleej Times, the chef matched with the woman on September 19. The woman sent a message from an international mobile number, asking Blake to meet her at a bar in Business Bay the same evening.
“It was too quick, but I wasn’t complaining. We agreed to meet at 9:30 pm, and when I arrived, she was already waiting,” Blake was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.
The chef further said that he ordered drinks. However, the woman said she was hungry and ordered a platter of fruits and salmon. Blake was surprised at the woman’s appetite.
Half an hour later, a couple reportedly appeared at Blake’s table with bouquets, persuading him to buy the bouquets for his partner. “I grudgingly agreed. When the bill arrived, I nearly fell off my chair. Dh 9,800, including Dh 500 for that miserable bouquet,” the chef added.
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While paying the bill, the chef’s UAE bank card declined, and Blake said it took him almost an hour to settle the bill via a Revolut transfer. “I even asked if she had any money, but she just shook her head,” he said. His date, he added, showed no remorse, said she wanted to go home, and left.
The next day, she messaged him, thanking him for the evening and suggested they meet again. However, Bake declined and blocked the woman. The chef also revealed that he came across an investigative report by the newspaper, which exposed the dating scam which had the exact pattern he faced.
After realising that he was duped, Blake went to the bar and confronted the management. When he threatened to report them, management offered a partial refund.
The chef expressed dismay and said, “If the bill was legitimate, why would the management offer a refund?”
There were similar incidents reported from the bar in the past. A long-term resident in Dubai revealed that a woman he met on Bumble asked him to meet at the same venue where she ordered platters, drinks, and shisha worth thousands of dirhams.
“When I tried to leave, security followed me. The manager shoved a Dh 2,750 bill at me and said, ‘If you’re leaving, you settle this.’ After a heated argument, I agreed to pay Dh 670. The manager then claimed the woman had “bank transferred” the rest without showing proof. They just wanted me out because I had realised it was a scam,” he said, adding that he has reported the matter to Dubai Police.
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