NZ Police Officer Duped into Handing Over Patrol Car and Gear to Tinder Swindler
December 3, 2022
PHOTO: Dean Purcell
Using photos stolen from a former policewoman’s social media, including her in uniform, he created the Tinder profile of an alluring blonde called Tori and started messaging the second victim, an active police officer called Mr L, in early October 2020.
“Tori” told Mr L she was working in an anti-corruption operation and needed his help to plant a listening device in a police car.
On November 11, 2020, Mr L brought a marked police patrol vehicle to Auckland and handed it to Tetera, thinking he was Tori’s colleague.
Tetera had the car for about four hours that first time, and managed to get the police car a second time later the same month. Tori had told Mr L the listening device did not work and they needed the car again.
Later that month, Mr L handed over his spare body armour vest, again under the ruse of Tori’s undercover work to insert a listening device in it for placement at a police station.