In something akin to Australia’s own version of To Catch A Predator, a group of vigilantes in Melbourne say that they are exposing paedophiles by luring them in with a fake profile, and filming the meetings that follow.
The Sydney Morning Herald report that the anonymous trio, aged in their early to mid 20s, created a profile for 18-year-old ‘Imogen’, who tells men she is actually 15 but looks older, and asks them to meet her in a Melbourne home.
Allegedly, two men, aged in their 30s and 40s, attempted to meet with ‘Imogen’ at the bayside house, and the encounters were filmed with hidden cameras, before her ‘brother’ appeared and chased them away.
The trio spoke to Fairfax and said that they were inspired to act after noticing an “alarming” amount of “inappropriate content” on Tinder, and how “common” illegal acts are on the site.
Videos of the two encounters were reportedly uploaded to YouTube last month; police in Victoria say that they are now investigating, but that they do not condone the actions taking place.
A cyber safety consultant has slammed the group’s actions as “absolute stupidity”.
“I can see this ending terribly for everyone involved,” Susan McLean told Fairfax. “Yes we need these creeps arrested, but the police do this and they do this very well.”
