The U.S. Embassy has issued a security alert over reports of dating apps being utilized to kidnap U.S. citizens near Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

The U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara said it confirmed that “victims and their family members in the United States have … been extorted for large sums of money.”

The consulate said the alleged kidnappings are not limited to a single geographic area, reporting that it had received reports from alleged victims in the contiguous states of Jalisco and Nayarit.

Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus responded to the U.S. security alert by saying that the incident reported in his state involved foreigners who used a dating app to hire prostitutes.

“It was not so much a kidnapping as it was extortion,” Lemus said, adding that he and Nayarit state officials responded quickly and notified the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, the Jalisco state capital.

The incident, he said, occurred about a month ago and involved four foreign tourists who used a dating app while staying in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta. The four victims claimed they traveled across the state border to Nuevo Nayarit, Nayarit, where they were forced to call family members and ask for money in exchange for their freedom.

Lemus called on tourists to refrain from contracting sex services, particularly via apps as they could be violating Mexican laws since these services are often linked to human trafficking.

To illustrate this, the governor referenced the case of Alex Marín, a producer of adult entertainment who was arrested in Puerto Vallarta last month on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor. Marín, who is expected to spend as much as two years in jail while his case is investigated, could also face human trafficking charges.

The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office told Proceso magazine that it has not received any formal complaints of kidnapping/extortion via dating apps. The Nayarit Attorney General’s Office did not reply to inquiries regarding such cases.

The security alert reminds U.S. citizens that the U.S. State Department has issued travel advisories for both Pacific coast states identified in their report: Jalisco is classified as “Level 3:  Reconsider Travel” due to crime and kidnapping, and Nayarit is classified as “Level 2:  Exercise Increased Caution” due to crime.

The consulate warned that “Travelers should use caution when meeting strangers; meet only in public places and avoid isolated locations, such as residences or hotel rooms, where crimes are most likely to occur.”

The consulate further advised U.S. citizens to be cautious if using online dating apps in Mexico. It suggested that dating platform users tell others about their plans, “including where you are going, details of the person you are meeting and the app you used to meet them.”

With reports from Proceso, El Informador and El Universal