Tinder, the popular mobile social network that makes it easy for members to meet and interact based on affinity and geolocation, is increasingly being used for the purpose of prostitution, at least according to a recent investigative article by Sophie Cullinane of online British publication The Debrief.

The Debrief article interviewed Sarah, a woman who worked in a nude cabaret before turning to Tinder to find men willing to pay her for sex. Sarah initially created a Tinder profile to find a romantic partner; alas, luck was not on her side for some reason:

“I’m not getting anywhere using Tinder to find a bloke, why don’t I just use it to boost business? ‘In the last week alone, I’ve seen 12 clients all from Tinder and have earned over £1,000. I just made a profile, wrote caption that made it kind of obvious what I do for a living, matched everyone who I was OK sleeping with and then waited for matches to get in contact with me. I know more and more prostitutes are cottoning on as well – it’s made my job insanely easy.”

Ms. Cullinane goes on to describe how prostitutes in London can be found through Tinder: they tend to use emojis (chat symbols or pictographs) that depict roses, which stand for pound sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom; to this effect, 80 roses seems to be the going rate for a one-hour sexual encounter.

In Costa Rica, the use of Tinder for prostitution has been discussed in online forums frequented by sexual tourists and locals who seek the company of ladies of the night. At Foro de Costa Rica, Tinder is not given a glowing review; male users complain that females are only interested in exchanging messages for free instead of exchanging sex for money. At Costa Rica Ticas, a forum mostly used by North American sexual tourists, members indicate that Tinder is not very useful for those who are visiting for only a few days.

There seems to be a consensus at both online forums about Badoo, another social network, being a more effective conduit for prostitution in Costa Rica. Like Tinder, Badoo is designed as an online application to facilitate dating, but it has also evolved into a network for casual sex encounters, and -to a lesser extent- a place where prostitutes advertise their services.

Indeed, some female profiles in Badoo make it clear that they are only interested in meeting foreign tourists looking for a very good time while visiting Costa Rica, but there are none of the rose emojis mentioned by The Debrief. However, various online reviews of both Badoo and Tinder suggest a major proliferation of fake profiles, similar to what was revealed in the aftermath of the Ashley Madison scandal.