Two burglars have been jailed after using the dating app Grindr to deceive victims into allowing them into their homes, before stealing mobile phones and money.
Rahmat Khan Mohammadi, 23, and Mohammed Bilal Hotak, 27, arranged to meet their targets at their London properites, Isleworth Crown Court heard on Monday.
The men would then persuade their unsuspecting dates to provide them with their phone passwords under the guise of wanting to play music on their device.
The Afghan refugees then quickly exited the properties, taking the unlocked devices with them which allowed them to make online or contactless payments. In some instances, they transferred funds directly to themselves.
Mohammadi targeted 11 victims in his five-month crime spree between October 24, 2024 and March 24, 2025. A jury found him guilty of 10 counts of burgling a dwelling, nine of fraud by false representation and one of theft and jailed for five years.
Hotak committed multiple offences between October 24, 2024 and 23 December 23, 2024. He was convicted of five counts of burgling a dwelling, five of fraud by false representation and one of theft. He recieved a three and a half year sentence.
Sentencing both men, Judge Adenike Balogun said: “I have taken note of the psychological trauma as well as the inconvenience caused to the victims, and the distress that all of them have expressed at allowing you into their homes – into their private space – only to be violated.”
Prosecutor David Patience had alleged that the men were targeted because of their sexuality and the offences could in effect been seen as hate crimes.
The judge said: “I’ve considered that matter very carefully and it seems to me that the presumed sexual orientation of the victims presented an opportunity for you to commit the crime, and in that respect I do find that the victims… were targeted because of their perceived vulnerability.”
However, she said they were not picked because the two men held “hostility” towards the victims’ sexuality.
Rather it was because they knew that Grindr, as an app facilitating gay hook-ups, was “an opportunity to gain easy access into the homes of the victims”.
She added: “I suspect you were – and I put no higher than that – banking on the victims not reporting the crime.”
To facilitate the burglary and fraud, a Grindr profile was set up that nearly always had no photograph. When the victims asked to see an image they would send one of somebody else.
A meet-up would be arranged and, on several occasions, Mohammadi would ask to bring a friend which would be Hotak.
Once inside they would ask the victim to turn on music, usually on YouTube because the phone could not be locked while a video was playing.
A distraction tactic was deployed where they would request the man leaves the room while their phone kept playing the video.
Their excuses included taking a shower before sex, making a drink and showing one of the perpetrators the toilet.
“In all the cases, when the victim returned to the main room you had left, or one or the other of you had left, and the victim found the mobile phone was missing,” the judge said.
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