South Bend police urge caution after string of robberies connected to dating app meetups

SOUTH BEND — Police are encouraging residents in South Bend's northeastern neighborhoods to be more discerning than usual when swiping through dating apps after multiple people have reported being robbed at gunpoint at arranged meetups.

South Bend police Lt. Kayla Miller said there have been four confirmed, and one suspected, robberies involving dating sites in the past month, all in the northeast area of South Bend.

At the meetups, victims have been robbed by people with handguns.

Citing the fact that police are actively investigating the cases, Miller declined to say which dating apps the victims are using, the sex of the victims or the mechanics of how and where the victims and the suspect typically meet up.

Miller did say that none of the victims to date have been injured and that the robberies have all happened on weekends in the hours around midnight.

"It’s a very fine line of, we want the information out there so people are aware of it, but we can’t give you a lot of details because we’re jeopardizing the investigation," Miller said.

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Police are currently working to figure out whether there are other robberies connected to dating apps and if the person running the suspect accounts is the same person committing the robberies.

Miller advised residents to be cautious and to arrange initial meetings in a public space, especially late at night.

“We live in a world where it’s so easy to be behind your phone or behind your computer and to provide false information," Miller said. "I encourage people to try and get some information you can verify about the other person you’re communicating with before you have that initial meetup."

Miller added that detectives have periodically seen similar instances of robberies involving online catfishing, though the trend has become more noticeable in the past few weeks.

Police encourage anyone with information about this recent string of robberies to call South Bend police or contact Michiana Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP to leave an anonymous tip.

Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend police investigating robberies tied to dating app meetups