American tourists warned of increased threat in summer vacation hotspot

Fox News

2 days ago

With summer travel approaching, officials are issuing a security alert to Americans who are using dating apps in certain areas of Mexico, warning travelers to use caution due to a rise in kidnappings linked to the apps.
On Monday, the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Mexico shared a security alert after confirming "several reports of U.S. citizens being kidnapped by individuals the victims met on dating apps in recent months."
"You've got to be careful, buyer beware. You've got to assume that something bad could happen to you in this process," Bobby McDonald, a retired supervisory Secret Service agent and a lecturer in criminal justice at the University of New Haven, shared with Fox News Digital about dating app dangers.
"If you choose to use it, be on extra-high alert. Be extra careful of where you're meeting this person or persons. Make sure that it's in a public area. Make sure it's an area where you're going to have cell phone service. Make sure that you're just watching out for yourself, situational awareness. Be careful and let people know where you are," McDonald urged.
McDonald added that these dating apps are the latest ruse criminals are using.
"Apps are the next level of places where criminals are going to be able to act on their nefarious activities. And you've just got to watch out," McDonald said.
"Again, there's not a whole lot we can do with respect to those apps or getting rid of them off the kids' phones or people's phones. People have just got to understand where they are, what they're doing and be ready to react to a bad situation and figure out how to get themselves out of it on the front end," he continued.
The alert was issued for Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Nayarit areas.
The embassy said that "victims and their family members in the United States have at times been extorted for large sums of money to secure their release."
"Please be aware that this type of violence is not limited to one geographic area," the embassy said.
The embassy added that travelers should use caution when meeting strangers, encouraging meetings in public places and avoiding isolated locations, "such as residences or hotel rooms, where crimes are most likely to occur."
McDonald said that nothing about this alert surprised him.
"This is just kind of the next iteration of what we need to worry about when we're traveling, whether it's with our families, with our students going on spring break, all of those type of things. There just always seems to be a next level of something that we have to watch out about," McDonald said.
Embassy officials did not specifically name which dating apps were involved in the alert.
McDonald recommended that anyone traveling out of the country or even to a new place in the United States "do a little bit of research before you travel" and know what "the surrounding area of where you're staying is like."
"You need make sure that you are cautious of your surroundings. You need to have the phone number of the U.S. Embassy or consulate on your person. You need to make sure that you've made extra copies of your passport," McDonald said. "Not only leaving a copy at home, but having an extra copy with you."
McDonald added that travelers also need to make sure they are communicating with people back home and letting them know where they're going and what they're doing while on vacation on these trips.
"Just give people some information so that if, God forbid, something does happen to you, or you find yourself in a bad situation, there's somebody on the outside or back home that may be able to provide you some assistance," McDonald said.
What makes these situations even more troublesome is that McDonald said that there may be no access to Wi-Fi where travelers are vacationing, especially after being abducted.
"Depending upon your phone plan, there may not be any Wi-Fi in the area that you're taken to off of one of these areas or the resorts. So again, you want to try to minimize your ability to have something happen to you," McDonald reiterated.
While McDonald does not discourage traveling to areas outside the country, he said to just be mindful of your surroundings and over communicate with loved ones.
"Again, enjoy the area. Enjoy what's out there. Many places can be safe as long as you're keeping yourself in a safe area and watching what you're doing, providing information to loved ones and friends, and just making sure that you're enjoying yourself without putting yourself in harm's way," he said.
McDonald said what he has seen in his experience is kidnappings evolving into extortion.
"A lot of the issues are also moving towards extortion, taking pictures of you or having you on the phone, calling your parents or grandparents, asking them to wire money. There's a lot of different scams out there that you can easily find yourself involved with if you're not situationally aware of where you are and what's around," he explained.
The U.S. Consulate General said it is reminding U.S. citizens that in the State Department's travel advisory for Mexico, Jalisco is classified as "Level 3," which means "reconsider travel" due to crime and kidnapping. The agency added that while Jalisco is classified as a higher threat, Nayarit is classified as "Level 2," meaning, "exercise increased caution" due to crime.
Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are other countries that also currently have Level 2 advisories from the State Department.
The State Department said it reviews travel advisories on a regular basis and would update alerts "any time conditions change substantially."
"The Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas," a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
"We take seriously our commitment to provide U.S. citizens with clear and reliable information about every destination in the world so they can make informed travel decisions. We make this information available to U.S. citizens so they can be aware of their surroundings and take necessary precautions."
Level 1 and 2 advisories are reviewed every 12 months, while Levels 3 and 4 are reviewed at least every six months, the department added.
The department also said that the security alert issued by the embassy is a reminder for "U.S. citizens to use caution when using dating apps."
McDonald said that while he feels travelers don't need to put too much emphasis on the warning levels and the semantics, doing research prior to traveling and reading what the State Department is saying about the area is crucial in decision-making.
"If you're a little bit concerned, and you've done your research on the area, and you're checking out what the State Department is saying, and they say 'exercise increased caution,' that would say to me, 'Hey, maybe you want to postpone your trip to that area,'" McDonald said. "That means that that area is on the radar, things are happening there or the potential for more things to happen there are out there."
McDonald added that there are many safe places for travelers to escape to, and it's just a matter of being prepared.
"We need to be able to choose wisely when we're picking our vacation times, and when there are advisories out there like this, we need to be cognizant of the fact that you don't want to step yourself into an area that might be having increased trouble at the moment," McDonald said.
"It's situational awareness, knowledge of your area, a little bit of homework on the front end, and you can hopefully have a very safe and enjoyable vacation."
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [e-mail]