The first date scam story came out last week, after which several Dubai residents have been chiming in to share their own experiences. From AED 10,000 to AED 25,000- men have reported losing huge amounts of money after being forced to pay an overpriced bill.

But not everyone gave up.

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David* (name withheld) is an entrepreneur based in Dubai, he met a girl on Tinder and lost his money when he got scammed on a date in Dubai… but he was not about to let it go. He quite literally chased it down.

Never mess with that hustler-entrepreneurial spirit!

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David met Laura on Tinder and though he suggested a place first, she insisted on meeting at another spot

It looked really harmless at first, but things were about to get pricey.

The red flags popped up in his mind when he saw an abnormal amount on the bill

He paid the large amount… and suddenly realised what just happened.

He quickly went on Tinder and took a screenshot of Laura’s profile (she had disappeared by then).

David then used the reverse search feature to track her down and found her Instagram account. He texted the bar on Instagram and sent them pictures of Laura, saying he was illegally overcharged. “Laura” denied any association to the scam.

David also message the resto-bar on Instagram, where they gave him the manager’s number

The manager denied the allegations too.

David began to notice the reviews pouring in for the restaurant. Several others were sharing their stories of being scammed on a first date, having to pay more!

He knew he was not the only one.

A very frustrated David then proceeded to create a thread on Reddit

“For many months a criminal organisation…has been running a massive Tinder drink scam operations. Reviews go back to last year and victims are 100+ and these are only the ones who got public. This means the total amounts scammed by this individual are €100.00+ probably more towards the €1.000.000+.” 

So how did David get his money back in the end?

After all the social media noise, the owner of the restaurant got in touch with him.

The owner claimed that he had used a bad agency to help attract customers. He promptly refunded the money too.

But there are still several others who have not got their refunds.

While there may not be any way to get your money back, please be careful on future first dates. In the meantime, spread awareness.