U.S. Embassy Issues Urgent Security Alert For Puerto Vallarta

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Mainstream news anchors often paint Mexico as a no-go zone, cherry-picking stories while you know they grab Happy Hour tacos and margs after the end-of-show credits run.

Yes, there have been numerous occurrences of violent crime speckled around the country, but these unfortunate instances rarely affect where Americans gravitate towards the most.

But given the intel of the U.S. Embassy's new alert, this is definitely a warning travelers need to pay attention to.

In fact, some travelers might think twice where to vacation this summer.

Puerto Vallarta always find itself as one of Mexico's top 3 beach getaways behind Cancun and Los Cabos, who just received 300 troops to better protect tourists after a recent travel alert.

While Cancun's main concern is how to settle constant Uber vs. taxi battles, Puerto Vallarta has largely been considered a safe haven.

In fact, I visited in April and couldn't have felt safer, whether in the confounds of 5-star luxury or hopping around neighboring beach towns. So, what's going on?

Cabo is a different story as the Embassy more or less issued a safety reminder that bad apples can act out anywhere, but Puerto Vallarta is actively seeing U.S. citizens in targeted, resulting in frightening situations no traveler would ever want to find themselves in.

Scroll, Don't Swipe

Let's be honest. Many of us can't sit idle with our thoughts and turn our brains off anymore.

Parking ourselves beachside might seem like a great idea in theory, but we all find ourselves doom-scrolling social media as if we're on our living room sofa and not a postcard beach in Mexico.

Well, criminals have picked up on the fact we're glued to our phones. Dating apps have become the ultimate social loophole to avoid face-to-face rejection hence the rise in popularity because who wants to suffer through that?

But in this case it's actually backfiring as the U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara has confirmed multiple reports of Americans falling victim to dating app scams, leading to dangerous situations.

For a country who coined the term “catfishing”, you'd think we'd have a better sense not to fall prey to such tactics, but in Mexico it's not a 400 lb. man pretending to be a Victoria's Secret model; it's scam artists looking to siphon every peso they can out of you and your loved ones by kidnapping for ransom.

Maybe stick to TikTok for now.

Not Exclusive To Puerto Vallarta

It's important for travelers to know these harmful tactics aren't exclusive to Puerto Vallarta. While the city is undoubtedly the biggest draw to the region.

But this alert couldn't have come at a worse time. The Embassy explicitly states these situations have affected tourists throughout Riviera Nayarit, home to 200 miles of coastline of up-and-coming beach towns like Sayulita and San Blas, and historic inland cities like Tepic.

Tepic is where a historic new flight will soon launch from Los Angeles (LAX) next month, allowing Americas to avoid the bustle of Puerto Vallarta and enjoy pristine beach towns by flying straight to Mexico's newest international terminal (TPQ).

So, if you're single and ready to mingle, be on high alert throughout the region, not just Puerto Vallarta.

The Embassy lists Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and Nuevo Nayarit, Nayarit, Mexico as destinations to stay vigilant.

Ways To Stay Safe During Unexpected Crime Wave

Now that the cat's out of the bag, perhaps scammers will lay off Bumble and Tinder for a while, but you just never know.

The Embassy is strongly urging Americans to take the following precautions when using dating apps:

• Meet only in public places
• Avoid isolated locations (such as apartments, hotel rooms, etc.)
• Tell someone you trust of your plans
• Trust your instincts (if something seems off, don't meet up)

Should you find yourself a victim in one of these scams, you should know that dialing 911 is the emergency contact in Mexico.

For what it's worth, the U.S. State Department classifies the state of Jalisco as Level 3: Reconsider Travel and Nayarit as Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, which is nothing to overly worry about.

That being said, U.S. embassies tend to have the freshest on-the-ground intel since they're based in the area and deal with these matters firsthand.

See the full travel alert issues by the US Embassy here.