US Navy sailors targeted on Tinder by men posing as women in bank fraud scheme, feds say

As part of the scheme, prosecutors say the men pretended to be Navy Federal Credit Union workers and reached out to account holders to get their banking information. Another part of the scheme was to pose as women on dating apps and find Navy sailors who were subsequently lied to further, prosecutors say. — dpa

A group of men targeted Navy sailors on Tinder by posing as women seeking a romantic relationship to trick the sailors into handing over thousands of dollars as part of a bank fraud scheme, prosecutors say.

Samari Smith, 20, of Newport News, Virginia, is the third man to plead guilty in connection with the plot to defraud the Navy Federal Credit Union, involving at least four other men including his brother, according to US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.