Man Robbed Trying to Buy Weed for Online Gal Pal: Police

AURORA, IL — A 26-year-old man was the victim of a robbery after he attempted to buy weed for a woman he had met on an online dating site.

Aurora police say they took a report Feb. 23 from a man who had been messaging with a woman on a popular dating site for several days.

In the course of their conversations, the woman asked the man if he smoked marijuana to which he replied he did not, police said in a Facebook post. They agreed to meet in person at a parking lot in the 2600 block of Ogden at around 6:40 p.m. but when he arrived, she was not there, police said.

When he messaged her, she told him she was running late and asked if he would buy some cannabis from her dealer who was in the area and she would pay him back when she arrived, according to police.

He agreed and was told to sound his horn so the dealer would know which car he was in.

When the 26 year old beeped his horn, a man who had been standing outside of a neighboring gas station approached, entered the vehicle and demanded all the other man’s money.

“Fearing he would be attacked, he handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the suspect ran from the scene. The profile of the woman with whom the man had been conversing had disappeared from the social media site when he tried to contact her,” police said.

There were no injuries to the man.

Police are advising citizens to be careful on social media and dating sites, as it offers criminals the “luxury of anonymity.”

“They can be very adept at gaining trust (and personal information) without you knowing exactly who you are dealing with. These types of incidents occur pretty regularly and are very difficult to investigate because the criminals know how to hide their tracks,” police said. “And remember, Google and similar tools can go a long way in verifying information.”