Online dating can be a great way to meet people with similar interests, but caution is necessary. Safety tips include using a dating service that does background checks, not revealing personal information, taking things slow, meeting in public places, and bringing a friend or letting someone know where you’ll be.
Dating online and then dating in real life can open up new relationship possibilities. Some people like the relative ease of getting to know people on the internet because they can find people who share more of their interests than they would on the internet. It’s still a dating type that needs to be treated with caution, especially since you don’t have some of the normal guarantees you’d have in “real-life” or “flesh space” dating. It is wise to observe some online dating safety tips to protect yourself.
Some online dating safety tips or bits of knowledge you should probably commit to memory are as follows:
People may not send you accurate pictures of themselves.
People may not represent themselves truthfully (marital status, employment status, appearance, etc.).
You are less likely to have problems if you use an online dating service that does criminal background checks.
There are other online dating safety tips to keep in mind. One is that you should give little information about yourself when meeting someone online for the first time. You can decide whether or not you want to go with a gender-specific name, but unless you want a lot of sexual attention, avoid sexually based or inappropriate names. When you meet people, don’t reveal nonessential details like where you live, your last name, where you work, or your phone number. If you want to chat with someone, you can give them a name and a general idea of where you live, such as what state or region you live in.
One of the most important online dating safety tips is to take things slow when meeting a new person online. Enjoy having conversations with them in print and be wary of things that seem like inconsistencies in other people’s claims. Once you’ve had a reasonable amount of time, maybe a month or two at least, to get to know someone, you can determine if you want to take the relationship offline.
Another of the online dating safety tips is to start by getting the phone number of the person you would like to meet offline. If you want to give your phone number, consider just giving a mobile number. Home phone numbers can be looked up using reverse listings to determine your location, and you can’t be sure that a person you’ve met online is honest or has your best interests at heart. In fact, you should probably have a high level of distrust until proven otherwise by the person you’re meeting. When you make your first call, block your number from being read by the person you’re calling, or call from a payphone or cell phone.
Again, take a slow phone report and use it to check things out about the person. Keep looking for inconsistencies and end the relationship if you find them, or if you hear any red flags or sense problems. Eventually the online relationship may progress to people looking to meet and you should observe caution here as well.
Plan to meet in a public place and you may want to bring one or more people with you. If you go alone, make sure someone else knows where you’ll be and exactly how long you’ll be gone. Carry a cell phone with you, and don’t plan on going anywhere non-public during your first or second meeting. If it turns out the person has been deceiving, leave quickly and if you fear for your safety, call the police.
Online dating can make first meetings with people difficult, but if you stick to a few online dating safety tips, you can make this process safer. There are a lot of people who are wonderful people and find online dating more convenient. However, the few bad apples that have bad intentions should always be considered and you should take steps to ensure that you minimize potential contact with these people.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
