In an unusual twist on online dating and marketing, a man reportedly created fake profiles on the dating app Tinder to entice women to visit his café — not for romance, but to drive up foot traffic and attract paying customers. The unconventional tactic, which blurred the lines between catfishing and commercial promotion, drew attention on social media and sparked debate about the ethics of using digital intimacy platforms for business gain.

The story, shared on social platforms and discussed in local forums, highlights a growing online subculture where dating apps are being repurposed for reasons far removed from genuine connection. In this case, a café owner reportedly leveraged the appeal of personal profiles and virtual flirting to fill tables and increase sales — a strategy that worked only because unsuspecting visitors thought they were meeting someone new, not a business ploy.

😲 The Scheme: How It Worked

According to posts circulating on social media and community pages, the man — identified in some accounts as a local café owner trying to help his struggling business — created multiple attractive female profiles on Tinder using photos likely not his own. After building up interest through messaging, he would invite matches to come by his café for a date.

The customers, thinking they were meeting a date they had connected with on the app, showed up at the café — only to find that the profiles were not real people at all, and the “date” they had been chatting with never appeared. However, many ended up buying food or drinks, essentially turning what was supposed to be a romantic meeting into revenue for the café.

In some versions shared online, after inviting all his matches to the café, the man claimed he would send a brief message like “come check out my place!” and watch the tables fill up — a tactic that earned both amusement and criticism in comment threads.

📲 Dating Apps as (Mis)Used Marketing Tools

This isn’t an isolated idea. Similar reports have suggested that restaurants and cafés may sometimes use dating apps to attract customers — either by matching with users and then standing them up so they’d still order food, or by creating interest that leads people to visit a location under false pretexts. This marketing practice has been dubbed “food digging” in some online discussions, where businesses use dating platforms to drive people into physical venues.

One TikToker’s story about being left standing at a restaurant by a digital match went viral and touched on this exact concept: restaurants posing as people on dating apps to lure diners in, knowing that, even when left alone, many customers will still eat and pay their bill.

While this tactic might seem ingenious to some, it raises ethical concerns about trust, consent and the original purpose of dating services. Users generally turn to apps like Tinder to seek connections — not to be unwitting participants in a marketing campaign.

⚠️ Risks, Backlash and Dating App Safety

The man’s approach — and similar schemes reported around the world — tie into the broader digital double‑edged sword of online dating platforms. Scams, fake accounts and deception are already well‑documented issues on Tinder and similar apps, with catfishing defined as creating a fictitious online persona to deceive others.

In other parts of the world, authorities have even prosecuted groups for using fake dating profiles to lure people into bars and then pressure them into paying inflated bills. In one instance in New Delhi, several men were arrested for creating fake female profiles and inviting unsuspecting men to bars as part of a coordinated scam.

Another case saw a man from Delhi forced to pay an exorbitant restaurant bill after agreeing to meet someone from a dating app — a stark reminder that deceptive tactics on these platforms can turn dangerous as well as costly.

These incidents underscore the importance of digital safety: beware of profiles that move too quickly to suggest meeting at specific venues, especially ones you haven’t researched, and always meet in public, safe spaces when it comes to online dating.

💬 Why This Story Sparked Conversation

The saga of the Tinder‑profile café scheme quickly became a talking point, not just for its bizarre ingenuity but for what it reveals about online culture and business creativity. Commenters online had varied reactions:

• Some found it clever and entrepreneurial, seeing it as a resourceful way to solve a common problem — getting customers through the door in a competitive food industry.

• Others condemned it as exploitative, arguing that manipulating people’s trust on a platform designed for personal connections crosses ethical boundaries.

• And many took it as a cautionary tale, reminding others to be careful about accepting invitations from people they’ve met online without proper verification.

This blend of humour, horror and caution reflects how digital platforms have become deeply woven into both social and commercial life — and how quickly the lines between the two can blur.

📍 Learnings for Users and Businesses

For dating app users:

• Always confirm that a match is genuine before agreeing to meet.

• Prefer meeting in known public spaces rather than unfamiliar locations.

• Be wary of profiles that seem too eager to invite you to a specific place. – Digital safety specialists recommend these steps to avoid scams and deception.

For business owners:

• Innovative marketing is important, but using misleading tactics on personal platforms may damage reputation in the long run.

• Transparent, creative promotions that don’t mislead users generally perform better in the long term than deceptive tactics that risk public backlash.

The tale of the Tinder café lure is funny on the surface, but it also serves as a reminder of how delicate trust is in the digital age — and how easily something meant to bring people together can be turned into a tool for commerce with mixed consequences.