A Brazilian man who allegedly scammed 11 women out of $355,000 after meeting them on dating apps has been arrested.
Caio da Silva was arrested on March 22 at a restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, where he was lured by his victims, who created a fake profile on Tinder, according to Fantastic, a news program that airs on TV Globo.
They began planning their revenge after one of the victims, Taya Banharo, learned of a June 2023 Fantastic report that Da Silva had attacked other women.
Banharo, who met da Silva through the dating app while she was hospitalized and at one point was scammed out of about $200, reached out to other women and set up a group chat.
By then, da Silva had disappeared from the dating app world, only to return several months later. They were able to locate his whereabouts after one of the women discovered that he had used her credit card.
Caio da Silva, investigated for scamming women he met on a dating app, was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on March 22. His arrest was made possible after his victims banded together and created a fake profile with a photo of a woman he thought she was meeting at a restaurant the day he was arrested.
Taya Banharo was scammed out of almost $200 by Brazilian Tinder scammer Caio da Silva, but she was able to get her money back
Talita Silva, a lawyer from Rio de Janeiro, managed to recover the $9,000 she had lent Caio da Silva while they were dating.
Banharo created a fake profile and with the help of the other women was able to maintain conversations with da Silva via WhatsApp until they could arrange a meeting.
‘We spoke with him on WhatsApp until we received the arrest warrant. Then when the arrest warrant came out, I set up a meeting with him,” Banharo said.
Da Silva thought he would meet Banharo at a restaurant on March 22 and was instead met by police, who arrested him.
“The investigation showed that he is a committed criminal,” said the head of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, Fábio Souza. And worst of all, he continued talking to other potential victims. His arrest was essential to prevent other people from falling for his scam.’
To his victims on Tinder, Caio da Silva would identify himself as a soap opera actor, a music composer, a real estate owner and a rich man.
Banharo created a fake profile and with the help of the other women was able to hold conversations with da Silva (pictured) via WhatsApp until they could arrange a meeting.
According to Fantastic, da Silva had a two-month relationship with a member of the Rio de Janeiro Military Police.
‘Everything that has been investigated is a civil crime, mere failure to comply with what was agreed between the parties,’ their lawyers told the media.
Da Silva was once investigated for defrauding five women in the nearby state of São Paulo and was convicted of embezzlement in 2019. But his sentence was changed to community service, which he never served.
Da Silva often told his victims that he was a soap opera actor, a music composer, a real estate owner and a rich man, but with financial problems.
He defrauded one of his victims, who preferred not to reveal his name, after telling him that he was the only person who inherited his late grandfather’s properties and that he was having problems with several properties. He would present them to his children.
A woman from São Paulo, whose name was also not revealed, recalled taking out a bank loan for almost $3,000 because Da Silva said she had to pay a fine for one of the farms. She ended up loaning him about $29,000.
Talita Silva, a lawyer from Rio de Janeiro, had luck on her side and was able to recover the $9,000 she had lent to da Silva, who also told her that she had to pay a fine that was imposed on her property and that she did not have access to his bank account because it was blocked.
‘His profile caught my attention because from the beginning he expressed himself and said that he did not want anything casual,’ Silva told Fantático in July 2023.
Another victim, who did not reveal her name, allegedly experienced the same treatment that Silva was exposed to in the early stages of their relationship and quickly fell in love with Da Silva.
“I thought he was a handsome guy, very charming, he talked a lot,” she said at the time. ‘And then he already conquers in conversations. That’s what he posts a lot in his videos, right, giving advice to women about what the perfect type of man is.’