Woman Warns Others Of The Crazy “Tabi Swiper” From Tinder: “NYC Fashion Girlies Beware”

Last year, multiple women came forward on TikTok to warn others of New York City's hipster playboy, "West Elm Caleb" – a purported mustachioed furniture designer for West Elm who would seduce his dates on Hinge only to love-bomb then ghost his victims. Now, NYC girlies have the “Tabi Swiper” to worry about on dating apps.

A New York-based woman named Lex (@nexlevellexuss) went viral this week after she shared her weird dating experience on TikTok. "This man is out here on Tinder and Hinge, and he will steal from you," Lex declared.

The Tabi Swiper Explained

Lex's story went like this: Walking down the city's bustling streets, she crossed paths with a "really cute guy," and they locked eyes. Later in the evening, as fate would have it, that same man reached out to her on Tinder. "I didn't know we matched on Tinder before, but [I] guess we did. We start chatting, and then we ended up going out for drinks," Lex explained. 

The young woman wasn't romantically interested in this mustachioed hunk (yes, he has the mustache like West Elm Caleb), and saw him as someone that she would "probably just hang out with" for "a little fling." However, this man Joshua was persistent about meeting up again (according to Lex), so they eventually headed to her place, where they talked about fashion. "We're chatting about fashion and stuff, and he, like, really wants Tabis. And I'm like, 'Oh yeah, I have some Tabis.' He's like, 'I really want the boots.'"

I had no idea what Tabi shoes were before Lex’s video – I’m not a fashion girlie. So I had to look it up, and they make you look like you have hooves. They’re pretty cute, not gonna lie – but they also come with a price tag of anywhere from $800 to $1,000.

Okay, back to the story. The duo ended up sleeping together in the morning again, and then Joshua allegedly asked for her phone to find a Spotify playlist. He failed to find it, so he returned the phone to her and eventually left. Hours later, Lex noticed the Mary Jane Tabis her father bought for her were missing. She wanted to ask Joshua if he'd seen it, so she headed over to Tinder and noticed that he unmatched her. "I'm like, 'Oh no.' This b*tch stole my f*cking shoes!" she recalled. Lex decided to give him a call…but his number was gone. 

"I'm like, 'So when you were on Spotify, you were actually deleting your phone number from my phone,'" she said. "Moral of the story is don't f*ck with this f*cker named Joshua on Tinder." You're telling me this man had a whole strategy for a fashion heist and succeeded? There's no way that was his first time.

Tabi Swiper Update

In a newer video, Lex informed her audience that she got her Tabis back. Long story short, the TikToker found the man on social media and reached out to his sister and "a bunch of people" who were giving her information about him. He finally called her back, reportedly tried to "gaslight" her, and denied stealing the shoes. "This man is a psychopath," Lex said. Then, her former fling offered to pay for the lost shoes. "I'm just like, 'Oh, when you're offering money, that means you did it," Lex thought.

It gets juicer from here. Lex discovered that Joshua apparently had a girlfriend and claimed she found a photo of her wearing her stolen Tabis. It was posted on social media with the hush emoji as the caption (suspicious). Lex took a screenshot and texted it to Joshua, who admitted defeat. She continued, "Hours later, at 3 a.m., I got a text message, and he's like, 'Aight, you caught me. I'll give you back your shoes. Can you take down the video?'"

"He thinks this is a f*cking joke," Lex said, stating that he was "smiling" the whole time whenever she got her shoes back. This pretty much concludes her story, but I have so many questions. How does this man know what Tabis are? How many times has he done this before? Was his girlfriend in on the heist, too? Did they agree that he could sleep with other women as long as he brought back some trophy (in this case, expensive clothes) for her? Not sure if we'll ever find the answers to these questions, but in the meantime, NYC girlies, heed Lex's warning and beware!

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