Christopher Allan Collins: Melbourne’s ‘Tinder swindler’ jailed for $344k fraud against woman

An infamous Australian Tinder swindler who has ripped off multiple women poses a high risk of reoffending and is escalating his behaviour, a judge has warned.

Christopher Allan Collins, 37, was jailed for almost six years on Friday morning in the County Court of Victoria after leaving a woman broke and terrified following a six-month spree.

The court was told he met the woman through Bumble in November 2024 using the alias “Pedro” due to media reports identifying his past crimes.

The pair began dating, with Collins crafting a backstory as a professional gambler within a syndicate, making millions of dollars annually and owning 18 homes.

He soon began encouraging the woman, a single mother with a professional job, to place bets before inventing up to 10 “distinct online personas” to threaten and manipulate the woman into believing she’d become indebted to bad people.

Between January and June 2025, the woman was forced to sell her home and investment property and borrow money from her dying mother and brother to pay the supposed debts.

In online communications she was told her employer would be told she was “involved in illegal betting”, that Comanchero bikies were “on their way”, and that her life “would be f--ked”.

In one incident on May 18, the woman was told “someone” was going to come from Canberra and “put a bullet in her head”.

Judge Kate Hawkins told the court the victim was not aware Collins controlled the “fictitious personas” and turned to him for comfort and protection.

She reported the incident to police but later withdrew her complaint because she was “terrified of being placed in danger” before returning to police on June 12 because the threats and demands did not stop.

At some point the woman learnt Collins’ real name, but Judge Hawkins said she “could not accept” he was responsible for months after the offending stopped.

After his arrest, Collins told police he was “not blaming her fully, some of it’s my fault, but she knew my history”.

In a victim impact statement to the court, the woman described herself as someone who “longed to be loved and accepted”.

Mr Collins you wove an intricate web of personas,” Judge Hawkins said.