Fox News ran an interesting story today titled “Dating apps in tourist hot spots target Americans – how to protect yourself.”
The story is about a Venezuelan man, Deivy Jose Rodriguez Delgado, who was just sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted for kidnapping three Americans in the Dominican Republic, after he lured them through dating apps, using an alias through which he gained their trust over time.
According to Fox News, “Patrick McCall of McCall Risk Group, which conducts private investigations and provides bodyguard services nationally and abroad, told Fox News Digital his agency has seen Delgado’s scheme before in the Dominican Republic, elsewhere abroad and even within the United States.”
The article goes on to quote McCall as saying, “This is kind of a new scam that’s out there. It’s targeting kind of lonely people or people that are looking for that connection, trying to find it outside the … traditional means of the U.S. or maybe going to a local bar or go to a local book reading or something where, you know, traditionally people have found these type of connections or met people there basically going on the internet, searching, using apps that are U.S. based here having no luck and then either being referred by a friend or a recommendation to try a different alternative app, which a lot of people are, which is kind of opening the door for these international incidents that occurring like the one in the Dominican Republic,” McCall told Fox News Digital.”
Turns out, Delgado arranged meetings with his victims, picking them up in his car and driving them a short distance before stopping to allow his accomplice to join them. The two men would then restrain the victims at knifepoint and not only rob them of their personal items but then force them to call friends or family members to get them to send money to Delgado’s CashApp account.
Fortunately the victims were released, as this situation could have easily ended very differently. It should be noted that romance scams are very common. In fact, thieves have stolen my images and set up accounts pretending to be me but with a different name. I’m only alerted when the victim or their loved one ends up doing a reverse image search and see that the photos belong to me and not whoever they thought they were communicating with.
One woman emailed me a few years ago to say that her sister was getting divorced because she had fallen in love with the person using my photos and lifestyle, only to end up being scammed thousands of dollars for a “plane ticket” for the person to come visit her.
Experts like McCall “emphasized the need for caution, especially when meeting people from dating apps abroad, suggesting victims meet in public places and share their whereabouts with trusted friends or family.”
My advice is to forgo the dating apps especially in foreign countries since it’s just not worth it. There are other ways to meet people abroad but no better way than through trusted friends and family.
KEEP READING:
–Is your hotel scamming you?
–Don’t fall for it: Scammers are pretending to be customs and border protection agents
–Cybersecurity and fraud expert shares tips on how not to get scammed when traveling
–How to avoid vacation rental scams
–Don’t fall for these QR code scams
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