There has been no shortage of gripping true-crime series of late, but perhaps one of the most shocking is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
Catching the Tinder Predator follows numerous brave women who speak to camera about their experiences with Christopher Harkins – a serial scammer who used dating apps such as Tinder to pick out prey.
Harkins was effectively a ‘romance scammer’, where he’d carve out a fake persona on a dating app, shower his victims in affection before suggesting they paid him a substantial amount of money.
A lack of police intervention, as well as fear of judgement from loved ones for handing over cash so readily, is what stopped many women speaking out against Harkins.
However, the sheer determination of some of the women Harkins scammed eventually led to his exposure.
So, after six years of romance scamming – what happened to Christopher Harkins, and where is he now? Cosmopolitan UK investigates…
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Who is Christopher Harkins?
Based around the Glasgow area in Scotland, Christopher Harkins set up numerous profiles on dating sites including Tinder.
The 38-year-old described himself to be having a number of well-paid jobs or owning businesses, which he juggled alongside being a “gym rat”. He appeared to live a wealthy lifestyle and tended to target richer, career-driven women.
How did Christopher Harkins operate?
Harkins used a number of techniques in order to ensure that he had his victims’ trust.
Speaking on Catching the Tinder Predator, one victim, Shannon, explained he messaged first and “was keen to keep the conversation flowing”.
Another victim, Jak, said he was keen to seem overly interested from the outset.
“He would say things like ‘Oh, you’re so pretty, I can’t believe I’m going on a date with you,” she says.
He was also keen to present himself as wealthy, as Jak explains: “On one of our dates, we went to the casino. He was spending a lot but also winning a lot. At the end of the date, he split the winnings equally, and put money in my bag.”
Once Harkins had secured their trust, he would then start asking his victims for money. On some occasions, he would pay them back straight away – again, fuelling the notion that he was trustworthy.
Some of Harkins’s scams included pretending to book romantic holidays, asking for money claiming his bank account was temporarily frozen, or telling women he was investing their savings for them.
If the women in question refused Harkins’s request, or questioned what he had done with the money, he would be belittling or threatening.
On other occasions, he was physically or sexually violent, or show his victims recordings of their sexual encounters with him.
Harkins also used some of his victims’ identities to take out payday loans.
He operated as a romance scammer roughly between 2012 and 2020, and is thought to be one of the most prolific in the UK.
What is a romance scam?
With the rise of dating apps and social media, romance scams are becoming an increasingly common way for criminals and fraudsters to make money.
Harkins is a textbook case; creating multiple dating profiles and ‘lovebombing’ victims quickly in order for them to believe they are in a genuine relationship – before conjuring up a scenario in which they urgently need money.
As Action Fraud explains: “Criminals go to great lengths to gain their [victims’] trust and convince them that they are in a genuine relationship.
“They use language to manipulate, persuade and exploit so that requests for money do not raise alarm bells. These requests might be highly emotive, such as criminals claiming they need money for emergency medical care, or to pay for transport costs to visit the victim if they are overseas.
“Scammers will often build a relationship with their victims over time.”
Last year, almost £95m was lost to romance fraud in the UK. According to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, the average loss per person is £10,774.
Where is Christopher Harkins now?
Shannon, who was scammed out of £3,247 by Harkins for a holiday that didn’t exist, initially went to the police about the matter – however, she was told that this was “a domestic issue”.
She then decided to go to a Scottish newspaper, with her story then numerous other women coming forward and sharing their own experiences with Christopher Harkins.
This then triggered an investigation by Police Scotland, and in 2024, Harkins faced 19 offences, which included 11 frauds, as well as rape, assault, recording an intimate video without consent, threatening and abusive behaviour and four other sexual offences. He was found guilty, and now faces 12 years in prison alongside being placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
One former partner said she caught Harkins trying to have sex with her while she slept. Another partner said he was violent towards her on three separate occasions.
The court heard that Harkins was also a gambling addict, and managed to defraud over £214,000 from his victims.
At the trial, Judge Alistair Watson told him: “This was an appalling catalogue of financial, physical and occasional sexual abuse of your victims.
“You repeatedly portrayed yourself as a successful person when in fact you are not.
“You did this over a number of years, moving from victim to victim, ruining lives as you went along.
“The harm you caused to your victims in this cannot be overstated.”
Catching the Tinder Predator is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video
Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper’s Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
