Three years behind bars
A gambling addict has been locked up for pretending to be a girl on Tinder to dupe numerous men into sending him a total of £14,000 ($18,679).
got men to pay for naked pictures before threatening to expose them to family and friends
Jack Conway Baker, 23, was impersonating a teenage girl on the popular online dating app. He created a fake profile under the name ‘Courtney Hall’. He got men to pay for naked pictures before threatening to expose them to family and friends in a bid to secure more funds.
Baker faced two counts of blackmail. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison by Judge Carr. He has also been ordered to reimburse his victims/
Tinder users duped
Baker pretended to be the teenage girl’s older brother and would tell the men that the girl is in fact underage. He would then blackmail the men by saying he would expose them to their friends and families if they didn’t pay.
Demanded money to buy silence
Prosecutor Philip Lee told the court that one of the men paid £1,000 ($1,334) after being blackmailed. After doing so, the man received further threats and demands via various social media platforms. According to Lee, Baker told this man that he knew where he lived and worked.
The court heard that this victim eventually asked his parents for guidance on the situation. Baker contacted the same man later in 2017. He was impersonating a police officer and said that the harassment would finally stop if the man sent one last payment.
this victim eventually asked his parents for guidance on the situation
In the end, this victim handed over a total of £7,500 ($10,000) to Baker. The court heard that the man also began suffering from anxiety and stress, which resulted in him having to take time off work.
Another victim left in a lurch
Another victim reported a similar experience and gave a total of £6,495 ($8,666) to Baker. He was receiving as many as 30 messages each day from Baker, who was making threats and demanding more money. This left him in financial difficulty and he was extremely embarrassed over the entire situation.
Gambling addiction blamed
Baker’s defense team, led by Martin Pearce, explained that Baker was earning £33,000 ($44,000) annually through his groundskeeping work for a family business.
However, Pearce also spoke about how his client was dealing with a significant gambling problem at the time of these offenses. Pearce went on to say that his client has recovered from his gambling addiction after receiving help from professionals.
