What They Don’t Know Can Keep You Safe
Even if you are not meeting in person, there are still several things to be careful
about when meeting new people online. While most people who participate in online
dating sites are nice, friendly people, there are some people that you need to be
careful around as well. Connecting with others online can be a great way to
meet people and start a relationship. However, to stay safe, you will need
to take some precautions.
- Pick a fake name or nickname. When signing up for the service and creating your
profile, choose a nickname that you want to be known by on the site. Use this name
when emailing or chatting with different people as well. Never give out your real
first or last name.
- Install internet security software on your computer. This will help prevent viruses
and other items from attacking your system.
- Don’t give out the specifics of your location. You don’t want to provide information
that could identify you, such as your neighborhood or school district. Keep it generic,
like the name of the large city you live near, or that you are in “Eastern Kansas”
instead of “Overland Park Villiage”.
- Set up a new email
address that you use only for online dating (and use a free one, not one that
is connected to a particular service provider). Also, don’t put your real name on
the account, just use the nickname you created instead.
- When talking on the phone, never use your home phone (and definitely don’t give
out that number). By using a cell phone, Skype chat, or a public phone, you can prevent the person
from finding out more information about you.
- Stick with good online dating services. If your service requires a fee, this verifies
that the individual has at least entered in a credit card number that matches their
name.
- Just like with the email account, set up a separate IM account if you plan on chatting online with potential
partners.
- Save copies of your online dating conversations. These can be used to spot inaccuracies
(also called lying) and can also be evidence if you ever suspect that the other
person has done something illegal.
- Request a photo. While this might not prevent them from sending a photo that isn’t
theirs, by requesting it you might find out some interesting information about the
person.
- Watch out for “red flags”. These are things like the person refusing to speak to
you on the phone after you have gotten close through email. Other red flags include
them not wanting to answer questions directly or them only being available at specific
times of the day.
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