Dongqiao Li: A Summary

Perhaps now is a good time to give readers a summary of Australian serial Grindr fraudster Dongiao Li’s crimes.

Dongqiao Li (also spelt as Dong Qiao Li) has been known to use the aliases Tony, Anton or Anthony. Li is known to friends as Tony Lee. He has numerous fraud convictions going back over ten years in South Australia, NSW and Victoria.

Li was born in mainland China in July 1993 and became known in the Australian and overseas media in 2025 for scamming victims he met through the dating app Grindr. He moved to Australia when he was young with his family. In court it was claimed that he first lived in Perth in Western Australia and later moved to Victoria and has links to Ballarat.

He made the scam work by matching with men on Grindr and then arranging to meet them in five-star hotels. At some point during their encounter he would encourage his victims to have a shower. While they were in the bathroom, he photographed their ID and bank cards. Li later used those details to make unauthorised fraudulent purchases such as flights, hotels, restaurants and beauty treatments.

Authorities linked him to multiple fraud incidents across NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Alleged victims have also claimed to have met him in other states including Western Australia and Queensland. In 2025, a Melbourne court heard that he had a long history of similar scams spanning over a decade, totalling around $120,000 though some media reports have claimed that the figure could be much higher.

In September 2025, he was sentenced to three months in prison in Melbourne after pleading guilty to a series of fraud charges.

The magistrate in Melbourne who sentenced him described his behaviour as ‘cold and calculating’ and noted his repeated offending over many years. She made it clear that she would have sentenced Li to 12 months imprisonment if it was not for letters from medical experts concerning his mental health.

It was claimed he was suffering from PTSD after being in a car crash that killed his step-father and badly injured his mother when he was young. However, the magistrate felt that given his long history of offending that she had no choice other than to give him a custodial sentence.

It was also made clear that he is also wanted on outstanding warrants in NSW and South Australia. In late March 2025 he absconded from NSW ahead of sentencing for crimes in that state.

Previously, media investigations had revealed victims across at least three states. Some victims only realised later that he had defrauded them when they saw fraudulent transactions on their bank accounts days after meeting him.

Victims reported that he used fake photos on his Grindr profiles that were not actually of him. One person whose photos he commonly used has been located to China. After using someone’s card, he would book his next hotel and meet his next victim, continuing the cycle.

The case has highlighted how criminals can exploit dating apps and private hotel meetups to commit identity fraud and theft.

Some victims have described Li as appearing polite, confident and calm with others describing him as being socially awkward. Some have described him as keeping them waiting in the hotel foyer for up to 15 minutes before coming down to meet them.

Li is of Chinese appearance and looks to be in his late 20s to early 30s. He was born in July 1993 so is 32 at the time of his blog. Prior to his 2025 arrest he would often give his age as a few years younger than he was. He is of medium height (around 175 cm) and is of slim build. He tends to have short black hair but has been known to dye it brown.

At meetings in five-star hotels he would often present himself as visiting the city on a business trip, travelling for work or for a conference.

After the fraud was discovered, some victims realised there were patterns:

He pushed for potential victims to take a shower after meeting, often quickly. He would sometimes block or stop responding to victims after meeting.

Prior to meeting, some victims claim he gave them his Instagram profile to stay in touch.

Within 24 – 48 hours, many victims noticed unauthorised credit card charges.

Media reports suggested more victims may exist. Some may be unaware he defrauded them, others may be too embarrassed to report him and others may be wary of police. Some victims in media reports claimed they felt their reports were not taken seriously by police, ignored or not followed up. At least one person claimed he had identified Li by his alias Tony Lee but was sent away by police without a report being taken.

There are some important factors that may have helped in him not being caught earlier.

He moved between different states. This might have made the events initially look like separate incidents rather than being caused by a single offender. The incidents also came under different jurisdictions.

Dating apps can make it easy to change an offender’s identity. They allow offenders to create new profiles quickly, change photos and change names and to delete accounts. Offenders also said he used different names making it harder to connect reports.

Many meetings took place in hotels. This helped because victims did not know his real address and his hotels stays were short-term. He sometimes used stolen card details to book his next hotel. He was able to move cities and hotels quickly.

Some victims were reluctant to report his crimes because of embarrassment or privacy concerns, some were wary of police and others did not notice his offences until days later.

The pattern became clear when multiple victims described the same method, police saw similar fraudulent transactions and media outlets collected stories from victims who realised they had met the same person. Eventually the above helped link the cases.

Victims noticed similarities such as similar appearance and age, same aliases (Tony, Anton and Anthony), meetings arranged in luxury hotels and fraudulent transactions shortly after their encounter. When some victims shared stories online and with journalists, the cases began connecting together.

Investigators did not catch Dongqiao Li immediately. The case came together gradually as police and victims began noticing repeat patterns.

Some journalists and community media outlets began publishing reports about the scams. After those articles appeared, more victims came forward, saying they had experienced the same encounter with the same person. This helped confirm the pattern.

Many fraud cases involve phishing scams, stolen card numbers online or hacking. However, Li physically met his victims and photographed their cards.

If you believe you have been a victim of Dongqiao Li (no matter how long ago or how much was taken) please report it to local police. There are also outstanding arrest warrants for Li in NSW and South Australia. If you know he is in either of these states please contact police immediately or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. You can do so anonymously.