A lonely widower from Warrington was cruelly scammed out of £20,000 by a manipulative blackmailer after he joined the Tinder online dating app.
He was tricked into thinking he was chatting with a 15-year-old girl, who sent him scantily clad photographs of herself and pestered him into saying that if they met he could kiss her neck and breasts.
The man, from Warrington, who had initially believed she was at least 18, ended their chats after three days – but just hours later a man calling himself ‘John’ messaged him.
He claimed to be part of a paedophile hunting group with a relationship with West Midlands police and over the next five months he scammed him out of £20,000 and tried to get a further £13,000.
By then the victim had a partner and the “nasty and mean” offences came to light after she saw a message from ‘John’ and told him to call the police.
The blackmailer, Jordan Guest, has now been put behind bars for 28 months by a judge who told him it had been a “sophisticated, manipulative course of conduct preying on a vulnerable grieving and innocent man.”
Recorder Gavin McBride said that the victim from Warrington, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had lost his wife and joined Tinder believing it was an age-verified account and began a correspondence with ‘Georgia” who turned out to be 15.
The defendant was both ‘Georgia’ and ‘John’ in whose messages there was ‘an undercurrent of threat” to his family’s safety.
The victim felt “trapped and manipulated” and suffered a massive decline in his mental health and the loss of money. “This was a nasty and mean offence,” said Recorder McBride.
Guest, 27, of Hall Avenue, Timperley, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to three offences of blackmail.
Frank Dillon, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that ’Georgia’ began conversing with the victim on Tinder on February 12 this year and sent him photographs purportedly of herself appearing to be over 18 and drinking in bars and clubs.
At her suggestion, they communicated on WhatsApp and she then said she was 15 but “super mature and trustworthy.”
She sent a picture of herself in a bikini top and shorts and messaged, saying, “Please, please don’t tell anyone about us, if we do because I don’t want to get in trouble and don’t want anyone to know about us x.”
In later messages, she asked about his family and his job and spoke about her school dance tournaments that week. He told her he could not believe her age as some photographs showed her drinking wine. She replied by stating, ‘I’m 15, I guess looking older helps.’
On February 15 Guest contacted him pretending to be John from a paedophile hunting group saying the situation he was in was “severe” and asked him to ring to discuss the next stages.
“It was made plain to him that if he did not make contact then the media and legal team of the business would become involved, but at present his details would stay with John as his agent.”
When he spoke to John he said “he had made a mistake contacting Georgia and did not want to pursue anything with her. He admitted he knew it was wrong and had got in over his head.”
“John said he had helped many people in a similar situation by them providing money to him to get them off. He said he had dealt with lots of people including footballers, and said he wanted a sum of money to delete his information.
“He said the normal amount was around £20,000 and this would be requested by his organisation, which he did not name. He said as a favour he would accept £14,000 in cash if he could get the amount the same day.”
By February 20 he had obtained £14,000 and they met at Lymm Services and after the defendant handed it over he was told “that’s the end of it.”
But a month later he got back in touch saying his bosses wanted the other £6,000 and said his organisation could find him by contacting his ex-employer.
The victim raised the money and handed it over “he said he felt like he was having a heart attack with worry and that he was retching every morning with nerves”.
John assured him again that that would be the end of the matter but in June he messaged with an undercurrent of threat to his family and the next month the defendant claimed he had been working tirelessly to protect him and everything had been deleted.
The next day, however, he claimed his organisation said John had pocketed the £20,000 and was threatening to take him to court and drag the defendant with him.
He demanded £13,000 and sent a photograph of an illegible non-disclosure agreement but luckily the victim’s partner saw the message and the police were informed.
Mr Dillon said that it was found by police that Guest had used five different phone numbers to contact the victim.
Julian Nutter, defending, said Guest has no previous convictions and was very sorry for what he had done. References showed there was a different side to him, he added.
