A foreigner, who has been looking for a young and beautiful local woman to be his girlfriend through a dating app, thought he hit a jackpot when someone that meets his standard finally agreed to meet him up.

But the excitement suddenly turned into hell after he later found out that the pretty young ‘woman’ he was supposed to meet was not only the person he expected it to be, but also a member of a kidnap-for-ransom syndicate using dating apps as part of its modus operandi.

Police Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, director of the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said the Chinese victim was not only beaten up but also lost P12,000 cash he was supposed to spend on his first date and another P500,000 from his family who paid the money in exchange for his release.

Estomo said it all started through Tan Tan dating app where the victim met the supposed beautiful Filipina. The latter finally agreed to meet in General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite.

“With the motivation to see a beautiful lady,  the victim agreed  to meet at the given place. But he has no idea that he was already targeted as victim for kidnap-for-ransom activity,” said Estomo

He added that the pretty woman that the victim saw in the dating app is not a real woman but a member of what Estomo described as ‘gay macho syndicate’.

Col. Villaflor Bannawagan, director of the AKG- Luzon Field Unit, said that moments after meeting his date, the victim was forced to board a vehicle where he was blindfolded and hogtied. He was later taken to the suspects’ hideout.

“While in captivity, these delinquent men assaulted the victim and took possession of his pocket money of Php12,000. The victim was also forced to ask from his  relatives in China an additional Php 500,000  to his account,” said Bannawagan.

The official said the victim was released at around 4 a.m. on March 18 after his family paid the ransom demand.

“Medical records show that the victim suffered four broken ribs,” said Bannawagan.

But Estomo, for his part, said nine suspects were arrested during a follow-up operation at Eco Trend Villas in Las Piñas City. They were identified as Anfernee Joshua Casil, Jomari Pamaranglas, Vicent Karl Suero, Ewald Tacalan, Disney Camacho, Kevin Mark Castillo, Joenel Roselio, Jaypee Roselio and Ostin Callejo.

They are now detained at the AKG headquarters and are facing a string of criminal charges that include kidnapping with ransom and with serious illegal detention.