"Surge in 'Honey Trapper' Gangs: The Alarming Trend of Robbery and Murder Through Deception and Seduction"

SPOTTING Saul Murray’s flashy designer watch on Instagram, scheming Surpreet Dhillon quickly devised a deadly plot to steal it, luring in her victim with the promise of sex before he was drugged and killed.

Now behind bars, she is seemingly just one of a growing number of women prepared to act as bait for gangs, as one expert exclusively reveals to The Sun why “honey-trapping” is becoming such a popular tactic used among to target unsuspecting prey.

Roani da Silva Sampaio was jailed for her part in the torture and robbery of a wealthy businessmanCredit: Newsflash Mundill Mahil was jailed for a honey trap plot in which the victim was burned alive Honey trappers Surpreet Dhillon and Temidayo Awe arriving at the home of a victim they knocked out with a date rape drug before he was stabbedCredit: SWNS

For victim Saul, 33, it was flashing his seemingly expensive timepiece online which made him a target to Dhillon, 36, who flirted with him on before arranging to meet him for with accomplice Temidayo Awe, 21.

The women headed to Saul’s flat in Luton, Beds, where they drank brandy before “sexual activity” occurred, and Dhillon secretly laced Saul’s glass with a date rape sedative to “knock him out”.

When that didn’t work, male accomplices Ikem Affia, 31, and Cleon Brown, 29, were seen entering the property on CCTV brandishing a knife.

Tragically, his body was found in his block of flats the following day, after dying as a result of heavy bleeding from a stab wound to his thigh, which had pierced an artery.

And it was all for nothing as the “Rolex” watch the dad-of-six was targeted for was later revealed to be fake.

Criminology professor David Wilson says he has increasingly heard more and more cases like this, where honey-trapping is utilised as a method to hoodwink unwitting victims.

He explains: “Honey trapping is essentially a form of fraud. You’re presenting yourself as something that you’re not, in the hope that you’ll encourage a relationship to develop.

“You’re going to present yourself in the most ‘ideal’ form you possibly can – having attributes and personal qualities or a personality that you know will culturally be attractive to the person that you’re trying to trap.

“There is a stereotypical view that women will be less dangerous than men.

“By and large, people would trust a woman rather than a man, so using a young woman as bait would be seen as easier than using a young man by a criminal gang.

“There is always a hare and tortoise race going on when we talk about a crime and the police – the hare is the offender, and the tortoise is the criminal justice system.

“Basically, the justice system hasn’t fully caught up to that technique yet. When they do, the [criminals] will move on [to another technique].”

For her role in the botched plot, Dhillon, from East , was sentenced to ten years for manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery at Crown , but this is far from an isolated case.

Victim Saul Murray was killed for his watchesCredit: facebook Dhillon plotted alongside Awe to have sex with, drug and steal from their victimCredit: police Awe lured Saul to his deathCredit: SWNS The honey trappers targeted their victim after seeing his ‘designer’ watches on InstagramCredit: SWNS

£30k ‘orgy’ robbery plot

In another horrifying example, Vishal Gohel, 44, from Bushey, Herts, was expecting to have sex with three women in January 2022 before he was murdered.

Georgia Bruce-Annan, a 22-year-old Coutts Bank apprentice, first made contact with Vishal on classifieds site Craigslist before arranging the bogus liaison.

Dad-of-two Vishal was seen on a shop’s CCTV buying drinks, cigarettes and condoms ahead of the meet, borrowing £100 in cash from his mother and withdrawing £100 from a cash machine.

Bruce-Annan, who joked Vishal was her “sugar daddy” and Faith Hoppie, 22, headed to the victim’s property in a plot to rob him of possessions totalling £30,000.

They later let Tevin Leslie, 23, Sakeen Gordon, 22, and Brandon Browne, 23, into the home and when Vishal could or would not transfer them any cash, he was fatally beaten and throttled.

It’s a method that criminals use because it elicits quick compliance — the victim doesn’t see the threat coming until it’s too late.

Dr Daniel Glazer, clinical psychologist

The next morning, Vishal’s neighbour found him lifeless on his bedroom floor, with gaffer tape around the lower part of his face.

His watch, the £200 cash and his iPhone had been stolen and a post-mortem found he had suffered a significant blow or blows to the head.

Bruce-Annan, from East London, received a life sentence for murder at St Albans Crown Court and Hoppie, from East London, was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.

The promise of a “sexual transaction”, David says, is “instrumental” in many cases like this.

He adds: “It’s a means to an end, to get access to more resources – the victim’s home for example, and the victim’s life. It’s very invasive. The victim has exposed themselves as who they are to somebody they believe was being honest.

“That has a huge psychological impact in terms of their willingness to trust somebody again – and relationships are about trust at the end of the day. The stakes are actually incredibly high emotionally and psychologically.”

Clinical psychologist Dr. Daniel Glazer adds: “Most often, the victim is being promised a desired personal reward or fantasy.

“It’s a method that criminals use because it elicits quick compliance — the victim doesn’t see the threat coming until it’s too late.”

It’s a horrifying scenario playing out in incidents across the country.

In, gleeful Shannon Wolleter acted as bait so she could join her boyfriend and his two pals in launching a vile assault on their supposed friend, worker Anthony Cooper.

This honey trap plot wasn’t for money in this case, it was for revenge – the gang believed Anthony owed them £150 and disapproved of his partner.

Shannon Wolleter was part of a honeytrap gangCredit: Facebook Wolleter outside Birmingham Crown Court. She was imprisoned for kidnapping and unlawful woundingCredit: BirminghamLive/BPM Wolleter was found guilty of kidnapping and unlawful woundingCredit: West Midlands Police Criminologist David Wilson says the stereotype that women aren’t dangerous isn’t trueCredit: David Wilson

After pretending she was romantically interested in Anthony, Woolleter, 30, arranged to meet him for sex before texting her boyfriend Daniel Aston, 33, saying “got him”.

In a terrifying ordeal lasting four hours, Anthony was beaten by Steven Baker, 61, with his son Matthew Baker, 29, threatening to cut off his legs.

The gang also threatened to chop off their victim’s tongue, stamped on his genitals and struck him with an iron bar in the October 2021 attack.

Honey trapper Wolleter, from, was sentenced to two years and ten months behind bars for kidnap and unlawful wounding.

In another revenge plot, Mundill Mahil was convicted in 2012 of grievous bodily harm with intent for her part in the killing of a TV executive and given six years inside, of which she served three.

Then teenager Mundill Mahil lured her ex to her flat before his murderCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd Gagandip Singh was burned to death in his own car in 2011Credit: Central News

She was found to have lured Gagandip Singh, 21, to her student flat in Brighton pretending she wanted to talk to him.

Instead, two men waited for him in her bedroom, viciously beating him before leaving him to die in the boot of his burning car in 2011.

While Mahil argued she had no idea he was in danger, prosecutors argued the motivation in this case was revenge after Mahil claimed he had previously attempted to rape her.

Harinder Shoker, 20, was given a life sentence for murder and Darren Peters, also 20, was jailed for 12 years for manslaughter.

Mahil, then just 19, was jailed for six years.

After her release she Varinder Singh Bola who was forced to quit as a mayor-elect of Redbridge, London when her previous convictions emerged.

Whether they’re successful plots or not, using women as bait to lure in victims is a typically a carefully orchestrated crime.

David says: “This isn’t random. It’s very constructed and carefully thought through. Fraudsters like this are very ‘good’ because they do their homework.

“They are looking at the sorts of things that [victims] post on their social media, on their facebook page.

“They are listening very carefully or reading very carefully and interpreting how you write about yourself and the kind of person that you might be seeking.”

Teen honey-trapper

Take Roani da Silva Sampaio, for example, who knew exactly how to portray herself to lure in exactly who she was looking for.

Posing in a bikini on social media, she looked like she was living the influencer dream – but her lifestyle was simply bait for a high-stakes honey-trapping plot.

According to reports, Sampaio was just 19 years old when she arranged to meet businessman Abel Landim for sex at his apartment in Teresina,, in February 2021.

While the temptress kept him busy in the shower, her boyfriend Francisco Moises Sousa Batista Jr and two accomplices broke into his property.

Terrifying CCTV footage showed the three gang members kick down the door of the apartment before bursting into the home armed with a .38 revolver and an automatic pistol.

Batista handcuffed victim Abel with plastic zip ties before beating him and holding a gun to his head for a terrifying game of Russian roulette, using a revolver with two bullets to terrify him into revealing where his valuables were stashed.

The gang stole cash, cameras, valuables and plundered the businessman’s bank accounts after forcing him to hand over his passwords and PINs.

Influencer Sampaio presented a glamorous lifestyle on InstagramCredit: Newsflash Sampaio’s gang subjected Abel Landim to a terrifying game of Russian rouletteCredit: Newsflash

Incredibly, stricken Abel managed to call the cops as they ransacked his home, with the honey trapper and her boyfriend arrested on the spot.

Sampaio was jailed for 23 years and four months, while the three men – Batista, Jean Carlos and Thiago Ruan Martins de Sousa – were caged for 20 years.

From the promise of a romantic relationship to a thrilling threesome, there’s no denying female honey trappers are currently seen as an easy way to gain the trust of innocent targets.

But, as David adds, nothing lasts forever – and as we become more aware of the techniques used by perpetrators, the less likely we are to fall victim.

Finally he adds: “Honeytrapping will eventually fall out of fashion.

“It will fall out of fashion because of articles like this – by drawing attention to it the public become more aware they have to be careful.

“I always say if something looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true – you need to know the red flags.”