In Delray Beach, Florida, the unmistakable figure of Dustin Lampros enters a grocery store, his eyes set on a quarry that isn’t found on any shelf. He is hunting for something much more sinister—a suspected child predator.

Since 2022, this mixed martial arts fighter has waged a personal crusade to shine a light on those who pose a threat to children. His efforts have garnered him a distinct identity on social media as 561 Predator Catcher—a tribute to his roots in the local area code.

Widely known as “Scrappy” amongst his peers and in the heat of the MMA cage, Lampros first earned this name as a fourth-grader bravely defending himself against two larger bullies on the football field. The nickname fittingly underscores his fearless disposition.

The inception of his mission traces back to a conversation with a friend working in cybersecurity. He was alerted to the lurking dangers online, prompting him to take action against those who exploit vulnerable minors.

Lampros had just recommitted to his faith, he told News Media. He’d started praying to know God’s will for his life.

He was stunned when his friend demonstrated the problem.

It took minutes to create a fake profile for a 13-year-old girl, “Amy,” on a platform known for facilitating connections.

It took seconds for men to make contact. “We had multiple grown adults reaching out trying to talk to who they thought was a 13-year-old,” Lampros said, fuming at the memory.

That sparked painful memories.

“Two people close to me in my life were victims,” he said, including a close childhood friend. “He was raped by our principal from sixth to eighth grade.”

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Lampros felt a calling on his life.

“Instantly, I knew that I was meant to do something.

“I could help.”

Bait and switch

Now, the 32-year-old professional fighter coordinates with people across the country who work as decoys posing as children. They converse online. They exchange photos.

Once an in-person meeting is arranged, and plans for sexual activity are discussed, Lampros prepares to pounce.

At the agreed-upon time, he waits outside the meet-up location. And when he spots the person who’s been communicating with the child, he places a 911 call to police.

Then, he strolls inside. Coolly and confidently, he walks up and addresses his “target” by name.

Immediately, Lampros pummels them with questions about why they’re there, who they’d planned to meet, and what they’d planned to do. He films the interactions on Meta glasses.

“I’ve gotten really good at getting these guys to just kind of … admit everything to me,” he said. Twice, his targets were women. One was a law enforcement officer. Several have been teachers.

When their answers to his questions don’t match the conversations decoys shared with him in screenshots, he brandishes his phone.

“I have all the messages right here,” Lampros reveals.

When police arrive, he turns over the messages and his video of the “catch,” as he calls it, as evidence.

He credits his MMA training and his faith for his ability to stay calm.

“Inside I’m fuming, I’m boiling,” he said.

“The goal is to get these guys arrested, charged, and convicted, and I know that if I put my hands on them, or if I act out, I know that that can affect the case. So, therefore, I keep myself calm, and keep myself composed.”

Fighting to protect children

Lampros trains at the MMA Science Academy in Sunrise, Florida. The other fighters and coaches celebrate his successes, said the gym owner, Roger Krahl.

By sparring with him and helping him hone his skills, they feel they play a role in his mission, he said.

But they’re mystified by how Lampros refrains from flexing his fighting skills when interacting with alleged child predators.

“We tell him all the time,” Krahl said. “But he’s got the perfect personality for it. He stays very calm and keeps his cool, which is obviously a big thing in the cage.

“When you get in there and fight, you’ve got to be calm under pressure. You’ve got to be able to think.”

Lampros has completed about 100 catches since 2022. About 10 have resulted in convictions, he said. Others still simmer in the legal pipeline.

“The cases take years,” he said.

Meanwhile, his technique has evolved, even softened, he admitted.

He used to order catches to do pushups while waiting for police. Now, he coaxes alleged predators to discuss details on video that can be turned over to police.

“He’s very comfortable,” Krahl said, adding that he doesn’t worry about the 5-foot-7 fighter’s safety.

“Obviously, he can protect himself. He’s a high-level professional athlete.

“Even though he’s a smaller guy—a bantamweight, 135 pounds—I wouldn’t worry about him versus anybody. Just a trained professional athlete versus an untrained person is not even fair.”

Lampros and his decoy helpers don’t coordinate with law enforcement. He reveals the details when he calls police.

“I tell them exactly what’s going on, that there’s a grown adult coming there to meet what they believe is a 13- or 14-year-old to engage in sexual activity.”

When officers don’t arrive quickly, Lampros stalls.

Twice the situation spiraled dangerously, he said. Once, a man he was questioning pulled a gun from his car. Lampros and his helper fled. Another man wielded a boxcutter during their interaction.

‘God’s will’

Lampros isn’t deterred. If he’s ever badly injured or killed during a “catch,” he’ll know he was doing God’s will, he said.

“It took years for police departments and state attorneys to actually look at us as legit and to make these cases stick,” Lampros said.

Now, about every month, a years-old case yields a conviction, he said.

Some lawyers in Florida advertise that they can help defend accused child predators who interacted with Lampros. They accuse him of being a vigilante. They subpoena him for depositions. Some insist he’s “just in it for the clicks,” he said.

But no matter the cost, Lampros said he’s in this fight for the long term.

He won’t stop working to expose child predators, he said. And when his MMA fighting career is over, he hopes to travel the country, educating parents about how to protect children from online dangers.

Before starting 561 Predator Catcher, Lampros said he was where any young, professional fighter would want to be.

He’d moved from Illinois to South Florida, a hub for the sport. He had a 7-0 record in cage fights, with five knockouts.

His sole focus: becoming a fighter for the UFC. The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the world’s largest professional MMA organization.

But, “I felt very empty,” he said. “My whole identity had been behind being an MMA fighter, being ‘Scrappy’ the fighter. I knew that having UFC as my idol wasn’t gonna fulfill me. That’s when I realized there’s got to be something more for me.”

He started praying, he said, “asking for His will to be done in my life.”

It was then that he was introduced to the idea of catching child predators. “When you start focusing on God’s plan, the doors kind of open up.”

“Once I figured that out, and I started living for Him instead of living for Scrappy the Fighter, my life has evolved so much more into such a blessing.”

He still hopes to be selected as a fighter in the UFC. But, he said, a fight against evil is far more important. “Knowing that God’s on my side, whatever happens, I believe it’s God’s will.”

Interpol has named and revealed the image of a woman suspected to be an assassin, accused of targeting a Ukrainian tycoon with a bomb in Monaco.

The international police organization identified the suspect as 39-year-old Anastasiia Berezovska from Ukraine, issuing a Red Notice on its website to facilitate her arrest.

On Friday, Interpol published two images of Berezovska, noting a distinctive tattoo—likely a snake—running from her shoulder to her elbow on her right arm. The notice also described her as having dark hair, being born in Ukraine, and being fluent in German.

Authorities in Monaco are seeking her detention for alleged attempted murder and other related charges.

Law enforcement agencies throughout Europe have been alerted to locate this ‘armed and dangerous’ woman.

Berezovska was last seen running away from the Mediterranean principality on Monday disguised in a bucket hat, after maiming 58-year-old oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, his mistress, Anna Nasobina, 46, and their young son.

A Red Notice by Interpol was issued on Thursday, along with an arrest warrant.

Stéphane Thibault, Monaco’s Prosecutor General, confirmed the suspect was currently registered as living in Germany.

A senior investigating source suggested the woman had ‘attempted to look like a man’ during the attack, but a witness identified her.

He said she was likely to be on the run with accomplices in Italy, but might have made her way as far as the Balkans.

Berezovska was filmed outside the ‘Sun’s Palace’ – a lavish apartment block owned by Ermolaev.

It was in the foyer, just before 9pm, that a dumped rucksack exploded after the woman triggered it using a mobile phone.

Nasobina had her legs amputated following the blast, while both her and Ermolaev suffered severe shrapnel wounds and burns.

‘The prime suspect was identified by a witness,’ said the investigating source.

Footage from nearby surveillance cameras showed her wearing a black bucket hat and fleeing on foot across the border to France, where there are no checkpoints.

She headed into the town of Beausoleil, and then made her way to Italy, investigators believe.

‘She is armed and dangerous, and thought to be in the company of accomplices,’ said the source. ‘She should be approached with extreme caution.’

Judicial authorities in both France and Monaco have opened a criminal enquiry for ‘attempted murder’, ‘the planting of an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent’ and ‘criminal conspiracy.’

Cameras first picked up the suspect in the area on Monday morning, before she returned to place the bomb, according to the same security sources.

She is thought to have been ‘around 12 meters away’ when she triggered the device, said one.

The wounded boy, thought to be aged 13, has made a rapid recovery and is currently providing evidence to police and prosecutors.

‘He is telling them exactly what he saw, although clearly his memory is very blurred,’ said a security source.

‘It appears that his mother took the full force of the blast, while he suffered relatively minor burns and shrapnel injuries.’

Nasobina has been described in the past as Ermolaev’s common-law wife.

She is a Ukrainian national who comes from Ermolaev’s home city of Dnipro, having spent a lot of time in England.

Nasobina is listed as a director of Wycombe Square Investments LLP in London, but was frequently in Monaco, particularly during the summer.

In turn, Ermolaev’s wife, Anna Ermolaev, uses a high-security family villa in St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the nearby French Riviera resort town, which is the second most expensive residential location in the world, after Monaco.

The suspect was likely using a so-called burner phone – one that can be bought relatively cheaply, without providing any kind of identification.

Such phones are frequently used by lawbreakers, and then disposed of once a crime has been committed.

Police and French Army helicopters with searchlights and numerous drones have all been seen in the search zone over the days and nights since the attack.

While there are theories that Ukraine’s SBU security service may have been behind the bombing, ‘a settling of scores’ by gangsters is currently the favoured line of investigation.

The blast signalled the first attack of its kind ever to take place on the so-called Rock tax haven, which is less than two miles square and considered neutral territory.

Ermolaev had made multiple enemies over the years, and one of the reasons he moved to Monaco was because of the security it was meant to provide.

Seyar Kurshutov, a Ukrainian businessman from Crimea, who now spends a lot of time in Monaco said his friend was ‘obsessed with security’.

Kurshutov told Le Monde: ‘Vadim was living on a razor’s edge.’

Some of Ermolaev’s most powerful enemies were made through a racket involving fake call centres.

In late 2025, Artur Ermolaev, 35- Vadim Ermolaev’s eldest son – was arrested in Cyprus for his role in the estimated £100m scheme.

Extradited to Estonia, where approximately 500 clients lost around £5million each, he was sentenced to five years in prison, with four months to be served behind bars.

‘He now lives in Israel,’ said Seyar Kurshutov.

Igor Komarov – a 28-year-old businessman involved in the call centres racket – was kidnapped, tortured, killed, and dismembered while on holiday in Bali, Indonesia, in March 2026.

Another security source said: ‘The killers have never been found. This gives an idea of the kind of enemies Ermolaev is up against.’