I am saddened to read about the fatal shooting of Venkata Cattamanchi, aged 35 and a software engineer from India.

Cattamanchi believed he was meeting a Canton woman that he had met on an online dating site. She offered him a late night meeting at Wendy’s in Southfield, which was to be followed by an interlude at a local motel. Some sources report this as a date, while others are saying that this 23 year old woman was offering her escort services. Either way, romance was not on her mind. She had conspired to rob Cattamanchi with three of her friends, one of whom was her boyfriend.

Once in the parking lot of the motel, Venkata was confronted and told to hand over his money. He refused and tried to flee from the parking lot, and was mortally shot by the womans boyfriend. One small gratitude is that there were witnesses to this act, and the the four criminals are currently languishing in jail.

I am always saddened to read about these occurrences. They send a message that Internet dating is dangerous, when the only thing that was dangerous about that night, was that he went to a motel with a woman he didn’t know. Whether he picked her up on the internet, or on a street corner, is totally irrelevant. We must be careful of everyone that we meet. It is a simple fact of life.

Criminals will use whatever means they have at their disposal to achieve their intentions. That internet dating provides an anonymous way for these people to screen potential victims and put them off their guard is something that needs to be kept in mind when giving out details about yourself on the internet.