A viral TikTok highlights how multiple women were invited on dates to a specific restaurant, only to be stood up. A theory has developed that venues are creating fake profiles on dating platforms in the hope that singles will dine there.
One TikTok user explained that they had been invited to a restaurant by a dating app match, only to arrive and no one waiting for them. After having gone through the effort of dressing up and travelling there, they ate at the restaurant by themselves.
Only later did this individual find out that multiple women had been stood up by dating app matches at the same restaurant. This sparked this theory of the catfishing restaurant.
Claims were later made that the restaurant partnered with a chatbot company to create fake profiles and attract singles to the venue.
“This is so cruel…no woman deserves to be toyed with like this”, said TikToker Shawnda (@lifecoachshawn). She criticises the restaurant for exploiting women seeking romantic relationships for its own profits.
Known as ‘venue promotion scams’, this behavior can also take the form of scammers (working with a venue) taking victims to that restaurant, racking up an expensive bill, and then ditching. This leaves the victim having to foot the bill and the scammer / restaurant seeing more business.
