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San Francisco Startup Using Fake Tinder Profile To Try To Catch Serial Burglar

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A San Francisco startup firm which has been hit by a series of burglaries is using the dating app Tinder to try and catch the burglar who the company says was caught on surveillance video.

BuildZoom, which connects general contractors with homeowners needing repairs, reports it has been burglarized several times over the past few months, each time by the same woman.

In a blog post, BuildZoom said it created a Tinder profile using the woman's picture in order to get her face publicized and is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to her capture.

BuildZoom Tinder profile Screen image of a fake Tinder profile depicting a woman who allegedly has burglarized San Francisco startup BuildZoom several times. (BuildZoom)

The Bold Italic reported company founder David Peterson created the fake profile and gave the woman the name "Lauren," accompanied by a image from its surveillance camera.

"I was trying figure out how to get her face in front of all these people and I thought that Tinder has a large user base in San Francisco," Peterson told The Bold Italic. "I almost want to send a message about petty crime, that if you break into office buildings you won't get away with it."

The woman appears in some surveillance images with a male accomplice. Apple laptops and other devices were stolen in each instance.

A previous BuildZoom blog post said the same woman has burglarized at least four other startups in San Francisco in July alone and may be using a physical key to access Doorking/DKS lock boxes that use a number code to open.

According to the blog post, the startups hit by burglaries use the same type of lock boxes.

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