Real stories

They swiped right. They never came home.

These are real people who were killed, drugged, kidnapped, or robbed after meeting someone on a dating app. Every case has one thing in common: the attacker was never verified. We built Veraz Dating so these stories don't repeat.

0Fatal encounters
0Druggings & kidnappings
0%Preventable with verification
🇺🇸

United States

3 documented cases

01
• Fatal2025Las Vegas, NV

Aurora Phelps — dating app serial killer

Aurora Phelps, 43, used Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble to lure at least four older men looking for companionship in Las Vegas. She went on multiple dates to build trust, then drugged them with prescription sedatives — stealing their cars, draining bank accounts, and using credit cards to buy luxury items and gold. One victim was unconscious for five days while she sold $3.3M in Apple stock from his account. In the most extreme case, she sedated a victim and smuggled him across the US-Mexico border in a wheelchair — he was later found dead in a Mexico City hotel. Three men died. The FBI called it 'a romance scam on steroids.' She faces 21 federal charges including kidnapping resulting in death.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's government ID verification would have linked Phelps' real identity to every profile across every app — no aliases, no starting fresh. Her trust score would have plummeted after the first victim report, warning all future matches. Date Check-In would have triggered automatic emergency alerts when victims stopped responding. Scam detection flags patterns of rapid meetups with older users followed by zero follow-up. Criminal background integration would have surfaced her history before she could target anyone new.

✓ ID Verification✓ Trust Score✓ Behavior Reports
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02
• Survived2024Las Vegas, NV

Travis Boland — dating app drugging suspect

Travis Boland of Las Vegas met two women on Tinder and invited them to his Summerlin home. After providing them with drinks, both women became unresponsive and could not be woken up. A friend who had helped arrange the meeting became concerned when he couldn't reach them, went to the home, and found the women unconscious. Police arrived and administered Narcan to both victims. Officers also discovered a dropper with liquid in the kitchen, a suspected grow lab, and methamphetamine. Boland was charged with poisoning and drug-related offenses in May 2024.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's ID and photo verification would have created a traceable, verified identity for Boland from the start — no anonymous profiles. His trust score would reflect any prior reports or suspicious behavior patterns. Date Check-In would have sent automatic alerts when the women stopped responding. The SOS button gives users a one-tap emergency alert at any point during a meetup. Scam detection flags accounts with patterns consistent with predatory behavior.

✓ ID Verification✓ Trust Score✓ Scam Detection
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03
• Survived2026Miami, FL

Sarah Jean Tavano — serial burglar

Sarah Jean Tavano, 36, operated a drugging and robbery scheme in Miami targeting men she met at bars and clubs. She would befriend victims during a night out, slip a sedative into their drinks, and then burglarize their homes while they were incapacitated. Miami-Dade detectives said she had victimized so many men that investigators already knew her name before she was arrested. She was taken into custody in January 2026 and charged with multiple counts of burglary and drugging. Victims had no memory of letting her into their homes.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's ID and photo verification would have created a traceable record tied to Tavano's real identity from the first interaction. Her trust score would have plummeted after early victim reports. Scam detection flags behavioral patterns consistent with predatory meetup schemes. A verified profile means no throwaway accounts — every report follows her. The SOS button gives victims a one-tap alert the moment something feels wrong.

✓ ID Verification✓ Trust Score✓ Scam Detection
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🇨🇴

Colombia

4 documented cases

04
• Fatal2023Medellín, Colombia

Tou Ger Xiong, 50 years old

Tou Ger was a Hmong-American comedian and community leader from Minnesota. In December 2023, he traveled to Medellín and matched with a woman on Tinder. She lured him to a meeting point where accomplices were waiting. He was drugged, robbed, and thrown from a bridge. His body was found the next day. Three suspects were arrested and sentenced to 28 years in prison. He was one of at least 17 U.S. citizens killed in Medellín that year, many through dating app scams.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating requires government ID and live photo verification before matching, making fake profiles nearly impossible. His match's trust score would have flagged a brand-new account with no verification. Date Check-In would have triggered an automatic alert to his emergency contacts when he failed to confirm his safety. Scam detection flags suspicious patterns targeting tourists.

✓ ID Verification✓ Trust Score✓ Scam Detection
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05
• Fatal2022Medellín, Colombia

Paul Nguyen, 27 years old

Paul was a 27-year-old Vietnamese-American tourist visiting Medellín in November 2022. He matched with a woman named Evelyn Henao Herrera on Tinder. After meeting for a date, Paul was drugged with clonazepam, a powerful sedative. He was found dead in his hotel room the following day. Herrera was arrested and charged with his murder. Paul's family said he had traveled to Colombia to explore the culture and practice his Spanish.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's ID verification would have linked the suspect's real identity to her profile, creating a traceable record. Her trust score would have been low as an unverified account. Date Check-In would have sent an emergency alert when Paul stopped responding. The SOS button would have given Paul one-tap access to local authorities at any point during the date.

✓ ID Verification✓ Date Check-In✓ SOS Button
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06
• Survived2023Colombia

Steven Valdez, 31 years old

Steven was a 31-year-old American travel blogger who matched with a woman on Tinder while visiting Colombia. During their date, she slipped scopolamine (known locally as 'burundanga') into his drink. Scopolamine is a tasteless, odorless drug that causes total submission and memory loss. Steven lost consciousness and woke up hours later in an unfamiliar location, stripped of his phone, wallet, watch, and camera. He survived but had no memory of what happened after the drink was spiked.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's ID verification would have made a fake profile nearly impossible to create. Her trust score would have been flagged as a new, unverified account. Date Check-In would have triggered an automatic alert when Steven failed to respond. His shared location would have helped emergency contacts find him immediately.

✓ ID Verification✓ Trust Score✓ Date Check-In
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07
• Survived2023Colombia

Alok Shah, 36 years old

Alok was a 36-year-old Texas resident visiting Colombia when he matched with a woman on Tinder. After meeting for drinks, his vision 'went sideways': he had been drugged with scopolamine. He regained partial awareness hours later in a different location, unable to control his body. His captors had drained his bank accounts via mobile banking, stolen his passport, phone, and all valuables. He managed to reach a hospital, where doctors confirmed he had been poisoned. He spent three days recovering before he could leave Colombia.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating requires photo verification and ID verification, so scam profiles can't hide behind stolen photos. Scam detection flags new accounts that target tourists or foreigners. The SOS button would have alerted local authorities the moment Alok felt something was wrong. Date Check-In would have sent his location to his emergency contacts automatically.

✓ ID Verification✓ Scam Detection✓ SOS Button
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🇧🇷

Brazil

4 documented cases

08
• Fatal2023São Paulo, Brazil

Mário Marchiani, 60 years old

Mário was a 60-year-old man from São Paulo whose body was found in a state of decomposition inside a rented property in 2023. He was identified through a tattoo. Police traced the killing to Renato Teixeira da Silva, a serial killer who confessed to murdering 14 people over 16 years. Teixeira met his victims through dating apps, maintained a relationship for a period, then killed them. He used the alias 'Bruno' and preferred a 15cm blade. He targeted both men and women with 'incredible coldness,' according to investigators.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's mandatory ID verification would have linked Teixeira's real identity to every profile he created. No aliases, no hiding. His trust score would have been destroyed by prior behavior reports. A pattern of accounts under different names would have triggered automatic fraud detection. ID-linked profiles make serial offenders immediately traceable across the platform.

✓ ID Verification✓ Trust Score✓ Behavior Reports
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09
• Fatal2024Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

D'wayne Morris, 43 years old

D'wayne was a 43-year-old Minneapolis entrepreneur and president of Blue Waters Consulting. In August 2024, while visiting Rio de Janeiro, he met a woman at a bar in the Lapa neighborhood. She and an accomplice accompanied him back to his rented apartment in Copacabana. They drugged him with GHB (part of Brazil's 'Goodnight Cinderella' scheme), causing him to convulse, foam at the mouth, and die. The suspect, Letícia Clara Bento da Silva, 23, was arrested and had a criminal record of similar crimes. D'wayne's body was discovered days later.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

If D'wayne had met his date through Veraz Dating instead, her real identity would have been verified and linked to her profile. Her criminal record of similar crimes would have flagged her account. Date Check-In would have sent an automatic emergency alert when D'wayne stopped responding. His shared location would have led authorities to him within minutes, not days.

✓ ID Verification✓ Date Check-In✓ SOS Button
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10
• Survived2023São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo businessman, 43 years old

On January 1, 2023, a 43-year-old São Paulo businessman arranged a Tinder date with a woman he'd been messaging. When he arrived at the meeting point, three armed men appeared and forced him into a vehicle. He was held captive for 17 hours, tortured, and forced to unlock his banking apps. His captors drained R$1.1 million (over $220,000 USD) through PIX instant transfers, took out loans in his name, and stole three phones worth R$17,000, his documents, bank cards, and his car. He was one of hundreds. 90% of São Paulo kidnappings that year originated from dating apps.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's ID verification would have exposed the fake profile immediately. Scam detection flags suspicious accounts that push to meet quickly. Date Check-In would have shared his real-time location with emergency contacts. When he failed to check in, automatic alerts would have been sent, cutting the 17-hour captivity to minutes.

✓ ID Verification✓ Scam Detection✓ Date Check-In
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11
• Survived2024Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Copacabana victim, 2024

In March 2024, a man in Rio de Janeiro arranged a Tinder date with Laura da Silva Lucas, 23. She arrived with a 14-year-old accomplice. Once inside his Copacabana apartment, they tied him to a chair with his arms behind his back, sealed his mouth with tape, and tortured him while draining his accounts. Laura and the minor were already wanted for similar crimes. In May, they targeted another man in the Cachambi neighborhood, stabbing him when he tried to escape. Laura fled to Paraguay but was tracked and arrested in August 2024.

🛡How Veraz Dating would have changed this

Veraz Dating's ID and photo verification would have prevented the fake profile entirely. Her trust score, as a new, unverified account, would have been visibly low. Behavior reports from the second victim would have triggered an automatic account suspension. The SOS button would have given the victim one-tap access to police the moment he was threatened.

✓ ID Verification✓ Trust Score✓ SOS Button
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