US woman ‘scammed by Sudan swindler’

A woman from the United States of America has taken to social media to accuse a Sudanese man of ‘honey trapping’ her out of $10,000, and a visa to the USA, after they met online and subsequently married. Dating app usage has increased in Sudan since the beginning of the war, particularly amongst those hoping to find foreign partners and travel abroad.

In a video posted to TikTok last month, American woman Danielle Renée made an impassioned plea for help finding a person called Mohanad Suleiman, a 22-year-old from Kassala, who she alledges tricked her into a “fraudulent marriage”.

“His family does not know he is married, and he owes me $10,000”, she said to viewers.

Last week, Renée told Sudanese TikTok personality Kawsar Abdalla that she met Suleiman in 2017 on Instagram. “I instantly fell in love and wanted him by my side.”

Following a five-year relationship, Suleiman allegedly asked her to get married and proposed she come visit him in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, in July 2022.

“After our wedding, we applied for a visa for him to come to the USA, which cost me $1,000.”

She claims they had a “very romantic and loving” relationship, during which Suleiman went back and forth between Sudan and Florida to see Renée.

“I would send Suleiman $500 on the first day of every month.”

Their marriage fell apart in June 2023, when Suleiman asked for an additional $300. “When I told him I did not have enough money to send him, he instantly blocked me. And that’s the last time I spoke to my husband.”

Renée said she lost all contact with her husband of seven years, and asked for information on his whereabouts. “As of right now, he’s looking for another wife on a marriage website”, she told Abdalla.

Dating fraud

Honey trapping, or the use of romantic or sexual relationships for personal, political, and monetary gains, have become increasingly prevalent on online dating apps.

Shows like TLC’s 90-Day Fiancé have highlighted numerous instances of people marrying for citizenship. This phenomenon has seemingly also grown in Sudan, particularly amongst those eager to find a way to get out of the war-torn country.

A January 29 report by the Netherlands branch of the popular dating app Tinder shows a 75 per cent increase in dating fraud in 2023 compared to the year before, with damages exceeding seven million Euros.

The 2022 Netflix hit The Tinder Swindler, which documents how a conman used the app to scam several women into relationships to finance his lavish lifestyle, is an example of how dating platforms are used for nefarious activities.