Men used in Tinder scam revealed
‘‘I don’t want to be connected to anything that would be hurtful to people, especially these women that are being taken advantage of.’’ Mark Cain Dallas real estate agent
The men whose images were used in a Tinder scam to con women out of millions are a real estate agent from Dallas and an Irish senator.
And they had no idea how their photos were being used.
Millions of dollars have been conned in the Tinder swindler scam, including from two New Zealand women, Joanne* and Donna*, who were both tricked into giving more than $500,000 each by men they met on Tinder in nearidentical cons.
Both women were sent numerous photos of the men.
Joanne was conned by a man named ‘‘Dale Plumides’’ who sent a large number of photos of himself and his purported family.
It can now be revealed the man in the photos is actually Mark Cain, a 54-year-old real estate agent in Dallas, Texas, primarily representing high-end luxury homes.
The Press called Cain early yesterday morning and told him his photo had been used in the scam to con women out of millions of dollars. He then read Joanne’s story and saw the photos.
‘‘Oh that is me on a plane,’’ he said. ‘‘I feel very shocked, upset, and definitely sorry for the women who were taken in by a story that was combined with a photo of me.’’
Cain said he was gay and ‘‘not even after women’’.
He often got messages from women across the world telling him they had seen his photo on a certain dating site or app or even Facebook and had finally figured out it was not real.
However, he had never been told money was involved.
‘‘I complain or report the photos and I get a reply back saying that the photo was verifiable somehow or that they couldn’t determine that it wasn’t verifiable.
‘‘So a lot of times those photos would remain up until I reach
out to that person and make some catty comment about how interesting it is that you look just exactly like me, and then I would notice a few days later that profile would be taken down.
‘‘My photo seems to be used quite a lot and I don’t know why.
‘‘I’m a really good guy. I help the underdog as well as helping extremely wealthy people buy and sell property.’’
He wants those behind the scam to ‘‘please stop using my photo’’.
‘‘I definitely don’t want to be connected to anything that’s criminal, but even more so I don’t want to be connected to anything that would be hurtful to people, especially these women that are being taken advantage of. It’s not fair,’’ he said.
‘‘I feel in some ways violated, and of course it’s disappointing; it’s frustrating.’’
He wanted to set the record straight and tell the women involved he was ‘‘not a scamming criminal’’.
‘‘I don’t know these women and despite the fact that they felt like they were talking to me or my personalities, the fact is they were talking to an image of me that wasn’t me. I feel sorry for them and hope in the future that with their stories being shared that other women can be more careful when having conversations with anyone on the internet.’’
He described the con as an ‘‘elaborate scam’’. ‘‘It’s likely a group of people who have a template that they operate by enticing older, single women who are lonely and then attaching themselves to these women and managing to convince them they really are the loves of their lives.
‘‘It’s sad they’re using their time and talent fraudulently when they could use it to help mankind and create a legitimate business.’’
The Press has also tracked down the man whose photos were used to con Donna. He is Irish senator Mark Daly.
Daly was shocked when called on Monday evening and sent the article about Donna and some of the photos of him she had received.
‘‘Oh Christ, OK ... I’m not a US citizen for a start,’’ he said while looking at the photos.
Daly asked to have a thorough read of the articles and then to call back. The Press has not been able to reach Daly again.
Joanne said it was clear the scam had affected many people, not just the women targeted.
‘‘I just feel so sorry for these men who had no idea their photos were being used in this way.’’