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Examining Christopher Harkins’ Tinder profile, Shannon McKechnie was instantly impressed. Having been single for the last 18 months, she was excited about signing up to the dating app after previously having positive experiences on it, and it seemed to be going well again. She was pleased to find someone who ‘ticked all the boxes’ with his muscular figure, handsome face and luxury lifestyle.
It was enough to make Shannon swipe right in spring 2019 – but little did she know how wrong she could be about a person.
Initially, Chris, who claimed to be a railway engineer and foreign exchange trader, seemed like a breath of fresh air in the dating world. ‘Getting conversation going was often painful, but it was different with him. From the start, he was engaging, asking me questions about my day, and replying quickly,’ the 40-year-old Glasweigian tells Metro.
When they met in person after a few weeks of messages, Shannon recalls his real-life persona was slightly ‘shyer’ than his online alter-ego, but as a successful recruitment manager, who ‘talks to people for a living’, she quickly brushed it aside.
‘I thought I was being a little too controlling in the conversation,’ she remembers. ‘What he did want to speak about was what my life was like, and we matched on both enjoying going out for nice dinners and holidays. He showed me pictures of himself doing those.’
Dream holiday becomes a nightmare
Soon, the inevitable ‘what are we?’ conversation came up. Harkins, 38, asked Shannon: ‘What do you miss about being in a relationship?’ Her reply was spontaneous trips, as most of her friends weren’t able to join her easily, because they had husbands and young children.
‘The very next day, he asked where we should go together,’ Shannon recalls. I joked, “Butlins”, but he said, “I think we can do much better than that”. Over a period of 12 hours, he painted a picture of what it could look like, and I liked that he was taking control of the planning. He swept me off my feet.’
Hawkins spoke excitedly about a romantic trip to Greece, sending her pictures of five-star hotels with swim-up bars, and indicating it would strengthen their bond.
Excited about their romantic getaway, by the end of the day, Shannon had transferred Chris £3,247 to cover her half of a dreamy Greek trip. But her excitement didn’t last long.
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Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro's year-long violence against women campaign Remembering the women killed by men in 2024‘From the minute I woke up the next day, I felt sick. I had a feeling in my stomach that I’d done the wrong thing,’ she admits. Seeking reassurance, she called Chris, but the line was dead.
Panicking, Shannon contacted the hotel they were meant to be staying at in Mykonos, and her worst fears were realised; the booking did not exist. Her next step was reaching out to her bank; however, because she’d willingly transferred, they couldn’t do anything.
Desperately trying to get hold of Chris, she texted him asking if he’d run off with her money. She was partially joking, but it would turn out to be true. When he eventually replied, his persona had completely changed. ‘How dare you speak to me like that?’ he scathingly wrote.
Despite his aggression, Shannon tried to keep things cordial, hoping that if she kept him on side, he might return her money.
Feeling ashamed, she kept the whole situation a secret from loved ones. When she reported it to the local police, she says an officer told her: ‘It’s not my problem, hen, that your boyfriend doesn’t want to take you on holiday anymore.’
‘I was adamant that I wanted to escalate it, so they took me to a wee room with two male officers. They read through all of my personal texts with him, then did nothing. I felt completely dismissed,’ she remembers.
What Shannon didn’t know then is that eight other women had already independently reported Harkins to the police.
In the following days, the content of the messages from Harkins worsened — he threatened to burn down Shannon’s house and claimed to have a violent criminal record as a scare tactic. The conman then disappeared for six weeks before returning with an ominous text saying that he’d give Shannon £3,247 back if she met him at a kebab shop.
When he didn’t show, Shannon was so furious she contacted local journalist Catriona Stewart. ‘I wanted people to know that this guy was not a good person. I didn’t want anybody else to fall for it, and I still wanted to get my money back,’ she explains. The plan worked — after Catriona contacted Harkins to get his right of reply, he got spooked and reimbursed Shannon.
Shannon was not the only victim
When the story was published in October 2019, a barrage of women came forward with similar tales of being preyed on by Harkins via dating apps. It became clear that he wasn’t making a living as a successful businessman; as he claimed, his lifestyle was instead funded by women, whom he’d scam out of money with faux holidays and made-up banking issues that could be resolved with a temporary loan.
Some women shared that they had not only been defrauded, but also been subjected to mental, physical and sexual abuse.
One woman who came forward following the exposé was Jak Reid, 39, who had dated Chris for six months in 2015. ‘I was at work, and my best friend had tagged me on a post about the article, saying, “Is that not your ex?” I was in sheer disbelief reading it. My jaw hit the floor.
‘The penny dropped,’ adds Jak, who saw two very different sides to Chris. ‘I was like, “This is what he does. It makes sense. It’s textbook”.
‘There were times when he was lovely, our first dates were almost perfect, and we seemed to have loads in common, like the gym, music, and going to the same nightclubs, but then, he changed.
‘He was erratic; his mood was flip-flopping all the time. He would moan about me wearing makeup, which I’d never had before and went mad when I paid our bill in a restaurant, grabbing my arm while telling me I’d completely embarrassed him. He could be quite mentally abusive, attacking my appearance.’
Jak’s work friends even nicknamed him ‘Crazy Chris’ after hearing about their relationship, but she would often make up excuses for his behaviour, as she really liked him.
However, when Jak received a text asking her to transfer around £600 to a friend’s account as he’d been frozen out of his bank, it marked the end; she could no longer ignore the alarm bells and decided to end the relationship.
‘At that point, I knew this boy was trying to scam me,’ she recalls — although Harkins brazenly refused to go graciously. Instead, he called Jak ‘embarrassing’ and ‘skint’ when he realised she wasn’t falling for his plan. When Jak blocked his number, she began receiving nasty texts from unknown numbers. ‘I was quite scared, because he knew where I lived, and this was before I knew the scale of his crimes,’ she remembers.
Harkins is finally convicted
Last July, Harkins was convicted of 19 offences committed between 2013 and 2019, including rape, assault, threatening and abusive behaviour, and charges of defrauding nine women out of more than £214,000. He is currently serving a 12-year sentence in Scotland.
The rise of romance scams
More than £106 million was lost to romance fraud in the UK last year, say figures from the City of London Police, the National Lead Force for fraud.
Data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau showed a 9% increase in romance fraud reports in the past year. 9,449 reports were made in the 2024/25 financial year, with victims losing £11,222 each on average.
A romance scam involves the trickster going to great lengths to gain the trust of their victim and convince them that they are in a genuine relationship. As well as the significant financial losses, there is also a psychological impact. Those who are targeted have lost a partner after being callously manipulated.
‘We know romance fraud is a heavily underreported crime, so it is likely to be significantly more widespread,’ said Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, from the City of London Police. ‘We encourage everyone to come forward if they think they could be a victim.
‘There is no shame in telling your story, as it is through this sharing of intelligence that can really help us learn about the tactics used and, ultimately, catch those responsible.’
As Harkins pleaded guilty to the fraud allegations, Shannon didn’t need to testify, although an admin error meant she was summoned to court one day.
‘For years, I couldn’t wait to stand in front of this man and have a day in court. I was literally building myself up to it. When I walked into the building, my physical reaction was not one of composure. I couldn’t stop crying and shaking,’ she remembers.
Today, Shannon feels proud of how her initial exposure of Harkins led to him being behind bars. ‘I feel really proud of all the women who were able to come forward. It’s such a sign of bravery, despite what he’s put them through.’
When asked if Harkins can change, her answer is simple — no. ‘He showed no remorse and blamed the victims all the way through the trial. I firmly believe that he would have done it again.’
Shannon, Jak and three more women are now sharing their stories in the Prime Video documentary Catching the Tinder Predator.
‘It’s so important not to sit in silence. I could never live with myself if I didn’t speak. I’m hoping more people come forward, and it could lead to further convictions,’ explains Jak.
Shannon adds: ‘It’s unfair that the shame lies with the victim. The more we talk, the more that will change.
‘We need to keep raising awareness of this man, and the other men like him, because he’s not alone in what he’s doing. I didn’t think it would happen to me, but it can happen to anyone. These men know what they are doing when they groom women.’
Since the ordeal, Shannon has remained single and has only been on occasional dates. ‘It’s difficult to trust people. I don’t want to fall for it again, so I’m almost always trying to catch people out. I’m looking for red flags everywhere, even when there aren’t any,’ she admits.
Jak feels similar: ‘I let him in, I was intimate with him, and he pulled the wool over my eyes. Even though it was years ago, I’m very wary, and I don’t think I would meet anyone on a dating app again. There’ll be too many copycats out there.’
But all hope isn’t lost, insists Shannon. ‘I know that there are incredible men out there, and I love love,’ she says.
‘I love watching people fall in love, and I probably fall in love in my head two or three times a week. For now, though, I will enjoy my single life and see if it comes along.’
Catching the Tinder Predator will be available on Prime Video in the UK & Ireland on September 7
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