Conned out of £3,000 by THE TINDER PREDATOR

Shannon McKechnie was convinced she'd found 'the one', until the truth began to unfold

- FRANCES LE ATE

In February 2019, when I signed up to Tinder, I certainly wasn't desperate for love. It'd been three years since my last relationship. A director of a recruitment business in my mid-30s, I was a city girl who loved nights out and the gym.

I was happy casually dating, matching with men on Tinder. Two months later, in April, I matched with Chris Harkins, then 32. On his profile he described himself as caring, generous and different, and I could see from the lavish photos of his trips abroad that he was someone who appreciated the good things in life. He worked as an engineer, and seemed ambitious, with a sideline in finance and investments too. He was tall, with tattoos and (at the time) long hair, and he was in good shape.

We soon got chatting over text, but on our first date later that month, he seemed a bit shy. After a few drinks, his nerves faded, and over the next weeks, we became close - dinner, drink and coffee dates, romantic walks in the park. Weeks turned into months, and I found myself really liking Chris. 'What do you miss most about being in a relationship?' Chris asked one day in August as we sat down to eat. 'Someone to go on holiday with,' I confessed.

Making plans

Over the next few days, the topic of holidays kept coming up - and then, over text, he suggested we go away together. At first, I thought he was joking - after all, we'd only been dating a few months - but when he started sending me the details of luxury hotels in Greece, I felt so excited.