On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, a Lake Tansi woman came to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and reported that in May of this year, she began talking with a man on the dating site Tinder who was using the name Kevin Cooker.  The woman stated that the man told her he lived in Nashville and as they continued to have a phone relationship he told her he was going to South Africa to do construction work. During one conversation he told her he had gotten jumped, and his wallet was taken. The woman said he asked her for money May 29, 2024.  The woman stated that she sent him $10,000.00 through BitCoin via Crypto (five thousand at a time).  The woman then sent him money several other times with the last time being on July 9, 2024 for $10,000.00.

The woman told the Sheriff’s Department she had sent $100,550.00 in total to this man. This includes approximately $600.00 on gift cards via Apple, Amazon, and Google.