A Woman Scammed Dozens of Tinder Dudes Into Meeting for a "Hunger Games"-Style Dating Gauntlet

From Cosmopolitan

Things have gotten so bad that this year, we didn't even really get a "song of the summer." Instead, as the Cut rightfully decreed, this tuneless summer will forever be known as the Summer of Scam. People be scammin', people be gettin' scammed, people be searchin' for scams, and, as the latest installment in this abysmal summer shows, people be creatin' scams for the purposes of viral videos.

On Sunday, a group of "150-200 guys" gathered in New York City's Union Square park, each thinking they were meeting up with a woman they'd met on Tinder for a date. As the New York Times reports, model Natasha Aponte spent the past few months matching with men on the app, and recently told them all to meet her for what they assumed would be a one-on-one date in the park. But then they showed up, and slowly discovered they were all there to meet the same woman, and did as men do: got mad.

Now, Aponte is combatting douchebaggery in her Instagram comments from people who are pissed that she misled so many men. But here's the biggest catch in a story built of catches: the whole thing was planned.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan.com, Rob Bliss-director at Rob Bliss Creative, a viral marketing agency that produced the viral video of a woman getting catcalled throughout New York City in 2014-confirmed he created and orchestrated the Tinder stunt. He said the anger Aponte is fielding is "definitely part of the story" he's trying to tell with the project, and that it will all be made clear when a video about the stunt premiers this Thursday, August 23, on Good Morning America.

Until then, the general public is awash in an array of emotions-anger, confusion, more anger, more confusion, and mild disgust. So here's what's known so far about the Tinder scam that led dozens of men to what's been described as a "Hunger Games"-style dating gauntlet in Union Square park. Buckle up.

How did these men all wind up in the park at the same time?

This all starts months ago with one woman-a model named Natasha Aponte. Amir Pleasants, a 21-year-old man from New Jersey who was among the scammed, told the New York Times that he matched with Aponte back in June. They messaged a bit, she abruptly cut off communication, and he didn't' hear from her again until last week, when she reached out to invite him to meet her for a friend's DJ set in Union Square park.

He texted her, "I'm so excited, this seems too good to be true lol. You are absolutely stunning."

When Pleasants arrived at Union Square Sunday evening around 6:15 p.m., he told the Times he saw "probably 150 to 200 guys outside... all kind of looking at each other trying to figure out the situation."

In interviews with New York Magazine's Select All, others of the scammed men said Aponte told them bascially the same thing as Pleasants-show up to Union Square park on Sunday, her friend was DJing, and they'd go out for drinks after.

How did these dudes realize what was happening?

This whole stunt came to light when a man known only as Misha tweeted about it in a thread that has since gone viral.

Misha told Select All that he first suspected something was up when he noticed all the people standing around and watching the DJ set in the park, rather than doing the normal New Yorker thing of walking away like nothing's happening.

"I guess [the crowd] was mostly male, but that didn’t immediately register to me," he told Select All.

David, another man among the horde of the scammed, told Select All he realized something was going on when another guy straight up asked him, "Are you trying to meet up with a girl named Natasha?" Which is among the last things you want to hear before a first date.

Did Natasha even show up?

Yup! The DJ-Nick AM-even got a video of it. According to Misha's thread, Aponte, dressed in all black, took the stage the DJ was playing on, and entered into what he describes as "a hunger games speech about what it's gonna take to date her."

Furthermore-some guys stuck around for it! From her position on the stage, Misha says Aponte posed a series of questions to the crowd. He stuck around for a bit, saying he was amazed by the "fallopian fortitude this girl possesses," which is, by the way, a beautiful turn of phrase. Then he went home.

According to the New York Times, Aponte disqualified men under 5 foot 10, men named Jimmy, and men who'd been dumped in their previous relationship. Men told Select All she further disqualified men who "think you can support Trump and date a Puerto Rican" at the same time.

Ok wait, is Natasha even a *real* person?

Sure! An Instagram account that seemingly belongs to Natahsa Aponte describes her as a "world traveler," as well as an "Actress, model, singer." Aponte has reportedly made her account private since news broke about the Tinder scam, but at the time this story was published, the account was public again. Go ahead and take a look if you want to see the array of nasty comments from furious strangers.

Bliss says he's been working with Aponte "for months now" on this project, and that the anger she's fielding in her comments, and reportedly fielded from guys in Union Square on Sunday, "is definitely part of this story."

"Me and Natasha care about the issue and think it raises a lot of point about different issues in society," Bliss says, though he can't elaborate right now on what he means by "the issue." He added the project was done "in partnership" with Aponte, and her role is collaborative. She'll be interviewed Thursday on Good Morning America after the video premiers.

Why are people mad?

Because they hate women? Because they hate scams? Because they especially hate the intersection of those things? You pick a reason.

Is this trying to sell me something?

Allegedly... No. Bliss assures me this isn't a marketing stunt, they didn't collaborate with a brand, and it's not about selling anything. "It's just an issue we care about and wanted to do something about," he says. What the issue is, he says he can't say. But that'll be cleared up Thursday, when the video airs.

I'm still very confused. Can you help?

I'm sorry, I can't. I'm also confused. Bliss says that what the public has seen, and what has been reported by a ton of news outlets (Gothamist, the New York Times, Select All, et cetera) is only "ten percent" of the project. So-sorry-but we'll all have to wait until Thursday morning when the video premiers on Good Morning America to see what the deal is.

Do you have any guesses about what it could be?

Your guess is as good as mine. But, based on what Bliss has done in the past (namely that infamous catcalling video), I'm guessing it has something to do with proving a point about male outrage, and exposing what women deal with in the depressing rigamarole that is dating.

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