She casually Googled the attractive man she met at a dating event to show her friend — the search results made her run for the hills
Dating stories can range from heartwarming to straight-up horror. While most people go on dates judging a person's profile on a dating site, a woman named Olivia Barbulescu (@oliviababulescu) wants you to know that it's important to Google the person and do a background check to save yourself from a potential threat. Recounting a scary experience, Barbulescu casually Googled a "cute" man who was a dog parent she had met at a dating event to share his picture with a friend. The search only led to her discovering his horrific past, according to her Instagram video posted on Friday, February 6, 2026.
Couple on a date. (Representative Image Source: Pexels| Liliana Drew)Olivia Barbulescu had met a "super attractive" man at a singles dating event with whom she hit it off initially. They began talking and flirting. When it got too late, he told her that he had to wake up early the next day. When she asked why, his response caught her off guard. He said, "Every morning I do three back-to-back solid core classes." She let that slide and went back home, but received a text from him the following morning. He told her that he would love to cook with her. While she took it as an innocent date plan, she then received a text from her friend who asked for a photo of the man.
Since they only met in person and she did not have any photos of him, Barbulescu began Googling for his attributes online and, to her shock, found disturbing details about him. She pulled up newspaper reports that claimed the same man previously faced charges for allegedly mistreating animals. Though she suspected it was someone else because he shared a common name, she later confirmed the photo in the news report matched him.
As Barbulescu was still processing this information, he sent her a text that cemented her thoughts to stay away from him. He told her that he did not cook at his place and got food from Trader Joe's. He also mentioned that he was planning to move to South Dakota, promising to explain things in person. Since his current place had no furniture and was "not conducive to guests," he asked if he could cook at her place. "At this point, I'm like I could never see this man again, because he's going to skin me alive," she remarked. A couple of days later, her friends suggested she look up information about him on the Facebook page called "Are We Dating The Same Guy."
She looked further and came across a post with over 100 comments about his dark past, with many claiming he was moving to North Dakota. But then, she saw an anonymous comment, "As someone who is friends with Mark, remember that not everything you see online is always as it seems," which likely sounded like him trying to clean his image. Barbulescu's post had people baffled by the story, who reacted to it. @bustles_wenchily wrote, "Look, sometimes I like a little something from Trader Joe's. But eating there exclusively?! Also unhinged. Bro, are you an 18-year-old who just got to college?" @lotusgal expressed, "Thank heavens for those 'Are we dating the same guy' sites!" @marwamikati remarked, "'Male loneliness epidemic'. The bar is in hell."