This guy who uses dating apps to score free dinner is your new worst enemy
Step aside, breadcrumbers. Move to the left, ghosters. There’s a new kind of shitty match in town and his name is Dine-and-Dash.
Just when you thought you’d encountered all the different types of dating app disasters, a new one comes along. There’s a Los Angeles man who keeps inviting women to dinner via dating app and then sticking them with the check.
He’s like a much less fun version of Homeless Heidi from High Maintenance, and he appears mainly to have met his dates on Bumble.
AdultFriendFinder — readers’ pick for casual connections
Hinge — popular choice for regular meetups
His M.O., according to CBS LA, is to invite an unsuspecting woman to dinner and immediately order a hearty meal. (In one case he went for “A glass of pinot, a Caesar salad with a side of shrimp, a steak and a baked potato.”) Then he chows down and gets up to “take a call.” And -- surprise! -- he disappears, leaving his bewildered date to pay.
Paul Gonzales (who has also used the names Dave Gonzales and Tony Azini) has pulled this scam several times in the LA-area since last summer and police say the same man was spotted ditching out after a haircut at a salon last summer.
There are several bench warrants out for his arrest. So if you end up on a date with this guy, you might want to be the one to step out and make a call... to the police.
Cassie Murdoch is Mashable's Culture Editor.. Before coming here, Cassie was Senior Culture Writer at Vocativ. She previously wrote for Jezebel and The Hairpin. Cassie spends most of her time thinking about and consuming cheese in all its glorious forms.
