A San Mateo County woman robbed and kidnapped a man she met through Facebook on their first date on Oct. 17.
Thirty-one-year-old Luciana Romano had arranged to meet her date on Hillsdale Boulevard after several Facebook conversations with him, according to the San Mateo County Police Department. After they met up, Romano allegedly threatened the male victim before forcing him to drive to a San Carlos gas station with an ATM to withdraw money.
Romano then demanded to be taken to a nearby motel, where they made a brief stop before returning to San Mateo. After Romano exited the car, the victim called 911 and provided the police with a picture of Romano to identify her.
“The following day, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, at 7:55 p.m., an operation was conducted to arrest Romano,” the San Mateo Police Department stated in a weekend alert on Nixle. “She was arrested upon exit of her apartment. After an interview, she was transported and booked into County Jail.”
The San Mateo County Police Department plans to continue investigating the case, due to a recent chain of online dating problems rolling throughout the country. Catfishing, lying, threats, and identity theft have all been on the rise, primarily through online dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, as well as popular social media such as Instagram and Snapchat.
However, dating apps continue to have millions of users, suggesting that the safety concerns being brought to light might not be as large scale as what may be expected. Still, although some dating apps have added more features to keep users safe amid rising concerns, teenagers and students at Carlmont High School remain wary about using dating apps.
“Some of my friends have expressed concerns about being sent unsolicited pictures, which is something that happens a lot with teenage girls,” said Radhika Agrawal, a Carlmont freshman. “Another issue is not knowing someone’s actual identity. People lie about themselves a lot online, and it’s a lot easier to lie when there’s no way to verify anything. So, online dating can be risky because you don’t know the type of people you could end up dealing with.”
Another issue many online users face is the possibility of being faced with danger.
“One risk is being exposed to predatory behavior by someone who can target and find out information about you and then use your vulnerabilities to blackmail you, give you a hard time, control you, and more,” said Vidushi Savant, a medical psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor at Stanford Health. “For someone who has predatory traits, psychopathy, and narcissism—someone who enjoys power and control—it’s very easy to make themselves seem better than who they are online.”
Savant explained some precautions dating app users should take to avoid dangerous situations.
“People should not exchange photos, especially of things that they would never want on the Internet, or of anything someone could blackmail them with. With online dating, it’s really important to take your time to get to know someone you meet online in person and spend real time with them,” Savant said.
Percentage of U.S. Dating App/Website Users Who Have Experienced the Following Behavior
However, there are several benefits to online dating as well, explaining why it remains popular among adults, especially in the United States.
“The pros of online dating are that you get to connect with someone that could live far away, and you get to create a relationship and bond with someone else you might not have met if you weren’t online,” said Kacy Wang, a Carlmont senior. “But if you’re dating someone, you’re probably going to share very personal parts of yourself. And if you’re doing that with someone that you don’t even know is real, that can be kind of scary.”
More people have recently become aware of the hidden red flags behind online dating through documentaries designed to expose online dating horrors. Within the last few years, Netflix has rolled out “The Tinder Swindler” and “Lover, Stalker, Killer,” two documentaries that highlight dangerous criminals taking advantage of dating app users. The reality television shows “Dating App Horrors” and “Catfish,” created with similar goals in mind, are available to watch on Hulu and Apple TV, respectively.
According to a study from the Pew Research Center, three out of 10 U.S. adults say they have ever used a dating app or site, with 9% saying they did so in the past year. The same study revealed that younger women often experience unwanted behavior on dating platforms, and 52% of dating app users say they believe someone has tried to scam them on the site. Americans are split in half on whether online dating is safe, with the majority believing that there should be background checks for everyone who makes a profile.
Many other residents have expressed similar concerns about dating app safety, causing Match Group—the leading company in online dating that owns Match, Tinder, and Hinge—to take action. According to Match Group, which published a press release on PR Newswire to break the news, Match Group recently partnered with Garbo—a nonprofit background check platform—to ensure the safety of online daters. Other dating platforms, such as Bumble, and traditional social media apps, including Instagram and Snapchat, have yet to incorporate such features into their design.
“Even though some things have changed, I still think the biggest issue with online dating is lying since you never really know if a person is who they say they are. They might say that they’re from the area, but you don’t know. You never really know someone’s true intentions online,” Agrawal said.
