Stay safe online with internet dating

How to stay safe online with internet dating.

Its not rocket science but we need to spell a few things out to remain safe online with internet dating and using dating websites. Most of them, in fact all of them, in hind-site are pretty much common sense but many of us soon seem to lose this when there is a pretty woman or good looking man involved.

Never give out your contact details or have them in your profile. Many online dating sites will automatically blank these out or reject them in your profile but some will only blank part of it out so its easy to see or guess or for someone to try a few variations like @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com etc. Best to not have them in there at all. Never have your phone or mobile number in there of course either. Its not hard to track down an address from your phone number these days for someone who really wants to. Just by googling your phone number may well show your full name and, or, your address if you have mentioned it on an auction website correspondence any time in the past. Maybe try it now. Google your own phone number or email address. You might be quite horrified at what you find. If you aren’t then that doesn’t mean to say there won’t be something there tomorrow or next week. Anyway, don’t list any private details on any dating site. That includes your name, your email address, your phone number, where you work, and your home address. You can always give any of these out when and if you are sure and just to the person you want to share them with. We would suggest having a separate email address for anything to do with your dating site profile which you use only for this and can change or just use a new one if you have to for any reason.

The first meeting.

This should always be in a public place with people around. A bar is fine but a cafe or coffee shop is probably better especially if you say you don’t drink or don’t drink often in your online dating profile. We suggest you control the meeting place and that way you are in control and familiar with the surroundings and neighborhood. The reasons for this are fairly obvious. You really have no idea who it is you are supposed to be meeting until they show up. Remember the person you have been corresponding with and have a mental picture of and even seen photos of may be nothing like (or even the same gender) as the person who turns up. They will almost always certainly be older than their photo at least.  Don’t assume anything. Sure, most will be somewhat as expected but the internet is the place and breeding ground for predators, rapists and pedophiles.

Have a backup plan to get out of it quickly if not going well. Having a friend call you 20 minutes in can be a great excuse to run off in a hurry, or just to reassure your friend all is well. It at the very least lets your suitor know that someone knows you are there and meeting with them. You can even fake a phone call if you have a smartphone. there are apps out there, and free, that will simulate a call to your cell phone and ‘call you’ at a pre-set time or after say 20 minutes of when you set it. You can then fake anything or if all is going well, just say you are tied up and will call them back in an hour or whatever. Depending on how this first date is going you might even want to pretend this ‘caller’ is another suitor or whatever you want.

Don’t give out too much on the first meeting. No address, don’t be specific where you work as as we said before they can gain more information from any of these if they want to stalk you. Only give out more personal contact information when you are comfortable and sure with this.

Follow your instincts. First impressions are almost always right. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t ignore it and just get out of there and fast.

Enjoy it. Your first date should be exciting and fun but keep your wits about you to ensure you stay safe online and off-line

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