Dating apps. They can be a ton of fun! They can also be deadly. Thousands of crimes have been connected to them over the past several years.
Now, the Sun has pored over half a decade of crime data from across the U.K. to determine which app is linked to the most serious offenses.
Investigators looked at a total of 1,795 crimes reported between 2011 and 2017. The crimes included attempted murder, rape, sexual assault, blackmail, stalking, and more.
Related: Horrific Murder Case Of Grindr Date That Ended In Cannibalism
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So which dating app proved to be the most dangerous?
Turns out, it’s Plenty of Fish.
The site, which was launched in 2003 and has around 3 million daily active users worldwide, accounted for more than half (56%) of all crimes reported.
Tinder came in second place at 26% of crimes, followed by Grindr at 10%, and Match.com at 7%.
A spokesperson for Plenty of Fish tried to downplay the findings, saying:
At Plenty of Fish we aim to ensure safety and security for all who encounter our platform, and have positively impacted the lives of millions of people. Given the scale of our community, we are no more immune from individuals with bad intentions than society at large, and we advise our users to exercise caution with the people they meet, whether it be through a friend, on a dating app, or at a bar.
Both Tinder and Grindr declined to comment.
Tony Neate, CEO of Get Safe Online, a group that provides information on online safety, says it’s good to be aware but also says people shouldn’t get too freaked out over this new report.
“The risks are pretty much the same as in the real world,” he says. “For example, there’s always a threat that someone might try to burgle your house but that doesn’t mean you never leave it. Instead you take precautions like having locks on your doors and putting in alarm systems.”
He adds, “If you’re looking to find love, you can take sensible precautions too, so you can feel confident when you think you’ve met someone nice via dating site or app – in fact, when dating online you can actually do more checks find out who that person is that you’re talking to.”
Related: Two Seattle Men Brutally Murdered By Stranger They Met On “Grindr Or Jack’d”
1898
not surprised. the creepiest/weirdest/most disturbed people i’ve encountered in the world of online dating were on pof
having said that, grinder’s 10% piece of the pie is pretty high if you consider how tiny they are compared to pof and tinder which are open to everyone and not just gay men
also, the excuse from the person at pof is bs. if his logic was legit, the numbers for tinder and match would be much much higher, and presumably okcupid would be in the mix too
Smith David
Gezzz…I thought for sure Grindr would be at a higher percent. I hav’nt been on that thing for years.
I caught my neighbors husband on there and he cornered me one day a begged me not to say anything and even offered a BJ for my silence. I just cancelled the app that day. That thing brings nothing but trouble.
Herman75
The Sun poured over crime data? WTF does that mean?
ethan_hines
Why do I have a sneaky suspicion that this “report” did not focus on LGBT only. Let’s face it not many gays use POF!!
Raymond Saint-Pierre
Another reason to wish RENTBOY was still around, imho!
Chris
Inaccurate use of statistics. They report just the number of reported crimes per app. But to determine which app’s use poses the greatest risk, you need to know the rate of crime relative to the number of uses per app.
1898
exactly
Roan
We have a violent sex offender just released from prison in this area. He has a felony for raping another man. He’s on the sex offender registry. This is a rural area. He’s easily recognized. It took half a dozen emails to get both of his profiles removed from Growlr. He’s also on Angie’s List. They wouldn’t remove his listing, just put a note on the listing that he isn’t an approved provider.
Danny595
“Investigators looked at a total of 1,795 crimes reported between 2011 and 2017. The crimes included attempted murder, rape, sexual assault, blackmail, stalking, and more.”
Ah, the joy, fulfillment and liberation of promiscuity!
Captain Obvious
You could meet a rapist in a public place. It really doesn’t matter what you use to meet people.