Same as anyone of any age: be very, very careful!!

Only go on a (so-called) reputable site;

Never give out your home details - would suggest you get a pay-as-you-go mobile phone that you use only for people you have met through the site - that way, if it doesn’t work out, they don’t have your own phone details.

If you get to meeting someone, meet in a public place somewhere other than where your home is;

Never give anyone money, whatever the ‘sob’ story is - in fact, if they mention money in any way, run a mile!

Take it very slowly to begin with!

Think that’s about it!! I know people who have had very successful relationships start through a website meeting but others who have been badly stung. However lovely the person sounds in emails, even on the phone, they can still turn out to be demanding, possessive, selfish, unkind - have any number of undesirable traits.

But, on the other hand, they could be absolutely lovely and the person of your dreams!!

Good luck - I hope you enjoy the experience and something wonderful happens to you.

1. It is best that you tell a friend before you meet someone from an online dating app/site. Tell all the details about when, where and until what time would you be meeting this person. You can also drop messages during your date, this helps to keep a track of how things are going. The contact information of this person could be shared to make more room for safety.
2. Meet outside (not at someone’s house)

This one is for safety. Meet at a public place, maybe a coffee shop, restaurant or a park where there will be people milling around and if something ever happens you can call for help. If your first date goes well, you can think of another. But it is best that you don’t invite the person home or go to their place for the first time.

3. Start with messages

Frequent messaging will get you some information on how that person is. His thoughts and attitude would be reflected eventually. This is the process when you set up your initial date.

4. Be open to thoughts

When you choose online dating, it can be difficult initially. Be open about your thoughts, your mind will send you impulses about the person and you should be able to rely on them.

5. Try experimenting with different sites

You should know your purpose before you choose your perfect app/website. If you are clear about what you want, you will know where you are getting the best. There is a thin line between a dating app and an app for getting easy sex.

Source:

Do not provide your personal contact details in your profile. Providing your home details in your profile, namely your phone number and address, is an easy way to track where you live or work. So, in the early stages of online dating, keep your personal information.

Once you know your date, you can decide how much information you want to provide. Remember, even if your first and last names are found, you can still be tracked on social networking sites. So try to create a nickname that you can use on dating sites.

Look for problematic features. When you chat over the phone or e-mail, you may start to pick out the characteristics of the other person. Do they seem grumpy? Are they controlling? Do they avoid some of your questions? Ask them how long their last relationship was and how long it lasted :)

Online dating can be a risky endeavor because there are so many unknowns. Therefore, you should make sure that the app of your choice has some built-in security features.

Ideally, the app would advertise its security guidelines on the registration page. But if they don't, or if security guidelines are particularly hard to find, you may want to look for a different app.

For example, Tinder and Hookoo has a photo verification feature that gives people the opportunity to take a photo of themselves in real-time, which Tinder matches to the person's profile to prevent tampering. A blue checkmark appears on the profile of the photo-verified person.

When creating your online dating profile, make sure you don't include your last name, contact information, nickname, or social media handle. You should keep personal details to a minimum. After all, if you meet someone you don't trust, you don't want them to have too much information about you.

Many dating websites have notifications on the sites advising members to be cautious about revealing overly personal information to people who they meet online, and to refrain from wiring money to people who they meet online. As an affiliate marketing owner of 4 niche dating websites, I’m pleased that my dating sites email and post these messages to the dating site members because singles need to be reminded that it is up to them to do their own due diligence with regards to screening the people who they are interested in.

We all have to do our own due diligence with EVERYTHING in life. Some dating websites such as my own provide verification options to members who want to prove that they are who they claim to be. Members can opt to send in photo ID and proof of income for verification. Although it’s not mandatory to do this, members who do so will receive a status of VERIFIFED placed on their member profiles, and having that verification stamp will inspire other members to connect with them.

The same ones everyone should.

People are out there who will take advantage of the lonely. People are out there who want your time, attention, and money - and might not give you anything in return. People are out there who are emotionally and/or mentally unstable (and sometimes just outright criminal) on the internet in *at least* the same proportion they are in real life.

I worked with a guy who works straight midnight shift. Saw him again the other day. He has just finished a nasty divorce a little over a year ago, and decided he would try his hand at online ‘dating’. With women in Thailand. And he wouldn’t listen to us. And it is working about as well as you think it would.

The first one he ‘dated’ we’re pretty sure wasn’t even a woman. Or in Thailand. This ‘person’ would only ever text, chat, or email - nothing ‘live’ like a phone call or anything with a video feed (like Skype). Sent them odd bits of money to ‘help’ with things (apparently everyone in Thailand regularly crashes their scooters and motorbikes, it has been a common theme with everyone he’s ‘dated’). We finally convinced him ‘she’ wasn’t real when he sent them a phone in the mail and they *still* wouldn’t talk to him with a voice or send live video. I am guessing he got a few pictures of some naked Asian woman out of it but, at the ratio of dollars spent versus picture gotten, free ones on the internet would of been a whole lot cheaper.

The second one was at least a live female person. He spent a *lot* of money on helping her out with motor scooter repairs, replacing the air conditioning system her brother stole, and whatever story they could make up at the moment. He was eventually rewarded with a trip over there to actually meet this person. It went better than we (his coworkers) expected; he wasn’t stood up OR robbed and left at the side of the road somewhere. He *did* get to take her, and her ‘extended’ family, many places in Thailand and pay for everything for all of them. He also bought and installed shelving, countertop, and appliances in a house, and did some handyman work at more than one ‘relative’s’ house that he even paid for the material at. She was trying to convince him to buy ‘her mother’s house’ for her, of course she would handle all the paperwork, after he returned. She broke it off when he wouldn’t and had a ‘girlfriend’ she ‘knew was interested in him’ contact him. At least he wasn’t killed, and he might of even gotten to sleep with her (I don’t know if the extended family she traveled everywhere with watched or not), but she sure was an expensive date.

The new one he was ‘dating’ when I saw him last wants to get married, have him buy a house over there, and have riding elephants as part of the ceremony. Who knows how much money he has sent her.

I wished him luck and that, again, he needed to be careful that he didn’t end up rolled and left for dead on the side of the road in Thailand. That he probably only got out of that the last time because they thought they could get a whole lot more money out of him alive. That she might of even sold his name to the next woman as an easy mark. He just laughed. =)

I'd highly suggest you read all our posts about scammers and red flags. It will give you very important information on what to look out for. Especially if you are new to the dating site.

Scammers, unfortunately, str everywhere and they are very good at what they do. They will ply on your sympathy with their fake sob stories.

They woll use fake information and IDs to try to prove to you that they are real.

These are some quick clues for you:

Tell you they are in love with you in 5.92 minutes of first talking.

Wants you to immediately go to another app, WhatsApp or Chat, to talk. Using they want more privacy.

They are usually working overseas. Making it convenient for them not to meet or running into problems which needs your money, or asking for expensiveor illegal favors.

They need money for gift cards, phones. Having trouble accessing their bank account or have a frozen account. To name a few excuses. And you're the only one I trust, I have mo one else. But I'll pay you back when I come see you. Never to see him or your money.

Weaving their fake lives with you. Making you feel loved and cared about. Grooming and prepping you to ask for money. But in reality all they want is your money. There is or never will be any love, or a future together as they promise you.

But I call it a “wait for it moment”, when they ask for money. This is how you can really tell if he's a scammer.

If this happens. Dont play around, hoping you can change him because you can't. He has no couth or remorse. They have financially ruin and destroyed many people's lives.

So please take my advice, check out our posts about scsmmers. The more knowledge you have, the better equipped you will be. And don't let them play the guilt trip with you if you say no to them. Use your head and gut instincts instead of your heart.

Delete and block him asap. And gladly walk away with your heart and money still intact.

Trust me.

Give you a sob stories of how their spouse has died. And they have children who live with a nanny, relative, or boarding school.

1. Post your own updates on the Internet and turn off positioning.

2. Do not share with others the trajectory of your home or some landmark buildings near your home.

3. Don’t tell the other party your real phone number.

4. In online dating, the other party will send you a link, do not just click on the link to fill in.

5. The other party asks you to transfer, you must be very careful.

6. When the other party puts forward a private part of the video call, he must refuse, maybe he will record the screen on the phone over there, and then threaten you to ask for money.

In no special order —

There are some married men or men living with women on dating sites who try to pass themselves off as “available” men. If a man won’t give you his last name and/or lies about where he lives, there’s a good chance that he’s married.

Read his profile, carefully, as it will give you clues as to what he’s like and what he’s looking for, however, you can’t believe everything that you read.

If he sounds too good to be true, he probably is.

Meet in a public place. It’s probably better to meet in the daytime.

Don’t get into his car on the first date.

If you live alone in a house, don’t let him know where you live until you’ve been out with him several times.

Don’t, under any circumstances, give him money or have him invest money for you.

There are some nice men on dating sites, but not all of the men are nice. Good luck!

Obviously, there should be some connection with the person and a sense of consistency…. they are who they present themself to be. Current photograph. Y

ou shouldn’t have to coerce attention and information from the person…. don’t beg or be desperate.

Be upfront about what sort of outcome you are looking for.

If it’s just a hookup or a casual relationship … have that understanding before you meet.

If you’re a woman. have a girlfriend you can call and let her know where you are spending the night… and when to expect your morning call. Let the guy know that you are doing so.

Do make sure you are using responsible contraception.

If you are looking for a potentially long-term/more serious relationship… tell the person you looking forward to getting to know them but expect to take your time to see how we get along as people before we get intimate.

Keep a first date in a public place where you can leave when you want to if you want to.

Have the funds on hand if you need to bail out, and pay your way home.

I was married for 52 years when my wife died. I hadn't dated in more than 1/2 century. I had a great marriage so I didn't want to be alone for the rest of my life. So what do you do? The rules had changed in 50 years. There were things I had no idea about. There were things I wanted in a relationship that I wasn't sure a woman really wanted, and I had no idea how you approach them? There is the loniness factor that takes away your common sense, and ofcourse the rejection factor as well. Now consider the fact that I had to ask my 47 year old son what I should do. It was a scary time.

After making a big mistake because of loneliness I settled down and made my own set of rules. I rewrote my profile several time so it accurately reflected who and what I was. I posted pictures that really reflected who I was. I decided who and what I was looking for. In my previous dating life I had been exposed to the concept of becoming someone's financial angel and I did not want that so I created three deal killers. First I did not want to remarry, 2. The woman had to be financially stable(not need a financial angle), and 3. she should want intimacy in the relationship.

With that done I started the process again accepting the fact I might well fail. I searched and dated for about three months when I met my second love. She to had lost her spouse She was 69, she didn't want to remarry, she too didn't want to be a financial angle, and she also was looking for an intimate relationship. We have been together over two year now.

It may well have started with doubt, loneliness and fear however it ended with me finding more than I hoped for so obviously it was well worth the effort.

Online dating is a lot of fun, but it can be risky at times as you don’t know whether the person has an alternate ego. That’s why it’s wise to take a few safety precautions while dating online.

Sometimes in adult dating, people get less concerned about safety. But that should not be the case. Staying safe is a lifetime chore.

Earlier the concern was meant for females only, but now males have equal chances of meeting frauds. So, safety is crucial irrespective of your gender and age.

Find out some of the tricks of the time that can keep you safe, without shoving off the fun part. Read the following safety measures before signing up in the free dating app in India.

1. Google yourself. Sounding ridiculous? Maybe! But it’s one of the first things you should do before online dating. Check how much information about you is available online. When someone will find interest in you, that’s how they will proceed. So, be alert of your online PI beforehand.

2. Avoid giving your personal cell phone number. Instead get a free Google Voice number. Download the Google Voice app and generate a separate number for your dates.

3. Never ever reveal your professional life until you are quite sure about the person in opposite. Some apps may try to fetch your job title, company name salary at the time of registration. However, the best free online dating app in India will never do these kinds of security breach.

4. Always meet your date in a crowded place. Meeting in public is always safe than private dates. Once you know the person inside out, only then go to private romantic gateways.

5. Drive yourself to and from your dating location. You may also take the public transportation. But don’t travel in private with your date.

Try online dating – it’s exciting and adventurous. But you should keep in mind the above safety precautions.

None of the dating sites are safe. Some dating sites are worse than others. I would avoid flurv, Scout and meet me like the plague, they are all connected and it's almost nothing but scammers. Scammers are almost always very very easy to spot. Most of the time I can spot them in less than 1 second, sometimes it takes a few conversations as long as you don't do anything stupid, you will be fine.

Stupid things never to do

Never ever under any circumstances give anyone anything online. And I do mean anything, cell phones, gift cards, I tunes, money, your address, any personal information.. some of the scammers will wait a while, sometimes years.. This is why you don't stay on the phone or online with them too long.

Never ever put pictures of children on a dating site. That is really probably the most stupid thing anyone could do and unfortunately it's very very common.

Have a second phone number that you can talk to them. Do not give them your main number. There are plenty of free apps like Google voice.

If someone calls you but says nothing, do not call them back, this is a scam. You will get hit with very high charges.

Never ever give anyone your real name, sometimes people ask. Sometimes they just don't know any better or sometimes they are scammers. Don't take the chance. You can tell them your real name when you meet in person.

Do not spend a lot of time chatting online, do not spend a lot of time talking on the phone. If they cannot talk on the phone within two days, it's a scammer or they don't have the time to talk anyway so you're wasting your time. You should meet in the real world in less than one week. If they make all kinds of excuses their either a scammer or they just don't have the time. Either way they are a waste of your time.

Never ever waste your time on someone who is more than 50 miles away, I keep it less then 20 miles. Why?? Common Sense. Most people don't have it.. People have jobs, they don't have a lot of time, they have responsibilities, children, the cost of transportation is high and who has all that time? Not very many people and if they do have all this free time it's usually because they are unemployed or on SSI and unemployed people or low income much of the time are looking for someone to support them, don't waste your time.

Watch out for anyone who does not have a car. There's always a much bigger problem behind that. DUI, just got out of jail, don't have a job.. You will end up being their chauffeur and much worse.

When you meet the real world, make sure somebody knows where you are. Better yet, have a friend go to the restaurant or whatever PUBLIC place you choose. Have them sit at a close by table, they can watch to make sure nothing is slipped into your drink.. Take a picture of the person you're meeting, take a picture of their license plate and car.

There is a good chance that you will be frustrated with online dating when you finally switch to real-life dating.

Therefore stick to these top 8 safety tips to guarantee your safety.

Tip 1

Keep talking through the chat site of the dating site until you really think you can trust the person.

So do not give other contact details directly, even though it is easier to keep in touch.

Do not be persuaded by an excuse to send your contact details quickly.

Tip 2

Trust your gut, if you notice that something doesn't feel right then you should listen to it.

Tip 3

Don't meet up too quickly with a person you have just met.

If you get to know someone longer, you often only find out what someone is like.

Tip 4

Always meet in public areas and prefer to go with your own transport.

It is not wise to get into someone's car with someone you have just met.

Tip 5

If you still find it scary to meet a stranger in a public space, choose to do something with a group of people instead of only two of you during the first date.

Tip 6

Always make sure that someone knows that you have a date with an unknown person.

Let close family and friends know where you are going and who you are with.

Give as many details as possible.

Tip 7

Suppose you don't like your date at all or you don't trust him or her?

Then just leave earlier and leave your politeness aside for a moment.

Tip 8

Watch your drink and don't drink too much either.

That way you are clearer and you can pay more attention to your own safety.

When it comes to online dating sites, they take a bunch of measures to keep you safe and secure from scams. one of the main things they do is verify profiles to make sure they're legit. this can include email verification, phone number verification, or even social media account linking. another biggie is monitoring for any suspicious activity. these sites use fancy algorithms and real-life humans to keep an eye out for any fishy stuff going on. they also have reporting systems in place so you can flag anything that doesn't seem right.

oh, and let's not forget about encryption and data protection. online dating sites take your privacy seriously and use top-notch security measures to keep your personal info safe from hackers. at the end of the day, online dating sites want you to have a great experience without worrying about scams or safety issues. If you have lost money to online dating scam and you want it back, report to spec ter lynx right away.

It depends but I will say this Internet dating does have their benefits for example it is easier to track down who you are dating. Also easier to make plans on where and when, when it comes to meeting up. Also, a conversation can also be blocked as well without much worrying about of being harrassed.

Now don't get me wrong, once a relationship is established does not mean that things will not change. Just like any relationship, things change. It may or may not work. Who knows.

The same goes with meeting people in a cafe place, park, bar, job, office, etc. Even hook ups, but still it is riskier because you never know when a person might change on you quick or may follow you, etc. Those are just examples.

Dating in general is always risky. All I can suggest is be careful who you get involved with. Communication is the most important thing.

Firstly - I should declare bias: Although I am writing this on my own time, my job is user-safety at OkCupid. I will be relatively generic and try to cover all the major dating sites in this response though. Safety isn’t something that is considered a company-partisan issue; we all co-operate when we need to because it’s good for the industry as a whole.

Nearly all of the mainstream dating sites take safety very seriously - All the companies in the Match Group put huge amounts of effort into it, probably more than any other online businesses. I talk to my counterparts in organisations that aren’t in our group as well, and they are all committed to user safety in the same way as we are. It’s not just something they say, it’s something they are committed to.

So it’s not that easy to answer the question! All of the mainstream sites are as safe as they can make them but the problem is, we are dealing with real people with their own independent minds and wants and that makes things pretty difficult sometimes!

I am going to speak mostly for OkCupid here because it’s what I know - It’s not an advert, I could be speaking about Match, POF, Tinder, Bumble, eHarmony or any of the big names in : Comparison of online dating services - Wikipedia.

We do what we can to educate users - For a lot of people this is a whole new world. They don’t know the protocols, they are already feeling vulnerable signing up for a dating site and they have taken a big step by mentally committing to meeting people online. I don’t want to say “it’s a dangerous world out there” because the majority of dates happen quite safely - But of course there are exceptions and people should be as aware as they would be in non-online generated dates, maybe more so because these people probably haven’t been pre-vetted by friends.

So my advice for any site and any early dating:

1. Learn about scammers. All of the sites will do their best to keep scammers off the sites but it’s very hard. There are thousands of scammers, and it’s a full time job for them and some slip through. Scammers will pose as military personnel, widows working abroad - All sorts. Read up on Romance Scammers (Google is your friend) and educate yourself. Basically, if the language they are speaking doesn’t seem right, if they can’t answer basic local questions without sounding like a tour-guide who has only ever read Wikipedia or they have some weird and wonderful story, don’t trust them! NEVER EVER send money to anyone. Ever. Even if they talk to you on the phone (sometimes, especially if they talk to you on the phone but are iffy about meeting) that isn’t an indicator of them being real. It is trivial for an African scammer to get a phone number in any local area code.
2. Don’t give your phone number out too quickly - If you keep communication on the dating site, then you are much more protected. If the user is discovered to be a scammer or has other bad-reports against them then we will ban them pretty quickly and they will vanish. If a user vanishes and re-appears under another name, that is a very very bad sign. We ban people for good reasons. If you have given them your phone number or email address too quickly then you won’t see if we have banned them.
3. Google the person’s photos! Don’t ever be scared of doing some research. It’s not creepy or impolite, it’s just sensible! Generally on most browsers if you right click on a photo there’s a way to google reverse image search it - Sadly, it’s not that easy on the mobile apps, which is probably something I should think about myself!
4. Consider making the first date a 30 minute lunch meeting for a coffee - Just to get the feel for the other person before you go on a longer proper date another time. I have heard that most people have the most success with this approach, and it saves a lot of awkward long evening dates happening.
5. If you are going on a first date with somebody, take all the precautions you would usually take on any date! Make sure somebody knows where you are going and who you are with. Make sure they have the other person’s contact details too and get them to check in with you by phone. It sounds silly, but have a safety phrase you can say if something is going wrong then they can call you back and give you an excuse to leave. Make sure your cellphone is fully charged before you go on the date.
6. Again, like any other date, be careful where your drinks are coming from! In any form of dating being drugged is a serious first-few-date risk. Don’t leave a drink unattended, if you need to go to the bathroom take your drink with you or subtley ask the wait-staff to keep an eye on it! It sounds odd, but this stuff is important. How to Stay Safe from Roofies and Date Rape Drugs seems to be quite a good article.
7. More and more locations in the USA are implementing an “Angel Shot”
   [1]
   scheme that is advertised in the women’s bathrooms. This gives women a code-phrase to use at the bar to indicate that she is in trouble and to enable the bar or wait-staff to help her out. That being said, if the bar doesn’t, there is no reason you shouldn’t take a bathroom break and ask one of the staff to ask a manager to help you out. Snopes indicates that the formal Angel Shot scheme is not as popular as people think
   [2]
   but never be worried about asking anyway!
8. Make sure your date is aware that you have somebody waiting for you. If you decide to go home with them then tell the person who is waiting for your call. I don’t want to tell you not to have fun, I just want to make sure you do it safely!
9. If something does happen, even if it’s just a creepy vibe or something, report it to us! We do take notice of your flags, and if a person is getting a lot of weird flags saying they are creepy, we will check them out and potentially ban them.
10. This one doesn’t really fit into the timeline of the above but sometimes it’s best to have discussed matters of protection, STIs, contraception and consent before you meet - The problem with some people is that this might set expectations for the meeting you don’t want to set; this can be a problem and it’s really hard to tell people what to do because it’s something unique to every individual. What I can say is that I have seen tens of thousands of talks about consent, STIs and the like and they have all gone well. Most people appreciate the ice-breaking and the opportunity to discuss things like minor infections, or carrying contraception. Be adult about it, make sure both parties realise that no means no and nothing is set in stone. It’s often best to just straight up say that nothing is going to happen on that first date, then the pressure is off.

Most dating sites have their own help and safety pages, here’s some examples from OkCupid:

Consent and dating

Safety tips

Online dating is hugely popular these days. Over 50% of people are now using online dating services to meet people and that number is growing. There’s no stigma or weirdness about dating online now, it’s absolutely the normal thing to do.

Footnotes

Things that you can do to increase your safety in online dating in my opinion are the following:

• Do not share personal information like where you live, how much money you make, phone number etc.
• Make sure to talk to the person you are talking to on the website or app to only speak to you on the website and app if they try to convince you to talk to them on some other place DO NOT because they may have alter motives.
• Do not talk about problems you have with your boss or fellow employees or anyone in general.
• If someone asks you for money stop talking to them and report them to the site.
• Make sure to know that they are the person they say they are on their profile by say face timing them, doing a meetup, or at the very least some strong evidence that they can verify it is them. If they cannot provide that information or refuse those things I mentioned before stop talking to them.
• If the person you meet is too flirty and asks a lot of personal information about yourself be careful they may have alter motives.
• Do not send inappropriate pictures of your self to the person also do not let them send inappropriate pictures of themselves to you if they do on the website or app report them sooner rather than later.

I think these can work for boys and girls who wish to use online dating.