Melbourne’s own Tinder swindler confesses to fleecing women of tens of thousands of dollars

Melbourne’s own Tinder swindler has confessed to fleecing women of tens of thousands of dollars during dates as they visited the bathroom and dancefloor.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard the love rat, who called himself ‘CJ’ on Tinder and ‘Happy’ on Bumble.

Melbourne’s own Tinder swindler has confessed to fleecing women of tens of thousands of dollars during dates as they visited the bathroom and boogied on the dancefloor.

Moments after Christopher Alan Collins, 33, moved $72,000 of his date’s money to a betting site, he took the woman’s stolen credit card to the strippers — even demanding she book the Uber to get him there.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard the love rat, who called himself ‘CJ’ on Tinder and ‘Happy’ on Bumble, told women he was a “professional gambler” before convincing them to open betting accounts within hours of meeting.

His punts were on “sure bets”, were on “fixed” games, and were assured through athlete friends on the teams, the former VFL player claimed.

In 2020 alone, Collins fleeced three women he’d met on dating apps of thousands of dollars and gambled their money on soccer and baseball matches through sites he was banned from.

Christopher Alan Collins, 33, moved $72,000 of his date’s money to a betting site, he took the woman’s stolen credit card to the strippers. Picture: Supplied

The Anakie Football Club and Little River Cricket Club junior mentor has pleaded guilty to 24 charges in 2020, including theft, fraud, dishonesty offences and breaching bail.

His crimes were committed a year after he was released from jail for scamming six other women of $82,000 that he also blew on failed bets.

In the early hours of January 5, Collins was at Richmond’s Swan Hotel with a woman he’d met hours earlier and asked to use her phone to check betting odds while she was on the dance floor.

Within 50 minutes, as she danced nearby, the court heard he moved $96,000 around her bank accounts, set aside for Christmas and holidays, then transferred $72,000 of that to a betting account — by the end of the night there was “nothing left”.

When they returned to her house, the court heard he stole her credit card and took an Uber he demanded she book to Centrefold Lounge, where he used her card to buy drinks about 4am.

About the same time, the woman discovered his transactions and sent him texts saying she was “furious”.

Collins took an Uber he demanded is date book to Centrefold Lounge.

The court heard he later claimed his mother would pay his outstanding debts of $20,000 after the gambling company refunded part of the bets.

But the woman never got her money back.

On May 23, ‘Ben from Brighton’ met another woman from a dating site at her home in Rowville, claiming he was a “professional gambler and that he knew ways to make money through gambling”.

Believing he was making a $20 wager after setting up accounts for her, the woman “became sleepy and it got late” as her date kept betting on her phone.

After he left, she received a text from him about 3am saying the soccer team he’d bet on had lost.

The next day she looked in her accounts and found he’d transferred $14,000 of her money to Sportsbet and TAB, leaving her “emotionally shattered”.

When she confronted him later, the court heard Collins told her not to be “nasty” and threatened to “top himself”.

On Boxing Day, ‘Happy’ matched with a woman on Bumble who later said his name was ‘Chris’.

Collins also used false names on the Bumble app. Picture: Getty Images

Out for dinner at The Local in Port Melbourne two days later, he snatched up her phone from the table while she was in the bathroom, and transferred $8500 of her cash into betting accounts.

Defence lawyer Domenic Care told the court that Collins was jailed in 2019 for similar offending, prompting Magistrate Cecily Hollingworth to ask, “What’s wrong with him?”

“How can he not realise the ramifications this would have on the women that he’s fleeced?” Her Honour asked.

“He’s had a taste of what it’s like to be in prison for dishonesty offending and he’s then gone and conned how many women in one year?”

Mr Care told the court that Collins had “grappled” with a long-term gambling addiction and would “chase a high and fill a void that was created when he was quite young”.

Ms Hollingsworth didn’t accept that Collins had already served enough time in jail and immediately locked him up on Thursday.

He will return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to continue his plea hearing on June 23.