Online Scams in Tijuana

Dating App and Online Meetup Kidnapping

Foreign visitors — particularly Americans — have been assaulted, robbed, and in some cases held for ransom after meeting individuals in Tijuana through dating apps including Tinder, Bumble, and similar platforms. The Australian government's Smartraveller advisory explicitly documents this pattern in Mexican border cities, noting victims' families are extorted for large sums. The perpetrators typically arrange a meeting in a legitimate-seeming public location before moving the victim to a secondary location.