Online Dating Safety Guide

Exercise Caution

The majority of online daters have a perfectly hassle-free experience, far from the scare-tales you may have heard or read. Unfortunately, this does not mean the online dating scene is entirely free of dodgy people. There are all kinds of undesirables online that you will need to watch out for. But there is no need to panic. Online dating is only dangerous in the same way traditional dating is dangerous. It's perfectly safe, as long as you keep your wits about you, use your common sense, and follow some basic safety rules.

The Dangers

The bad people who lurk online can be divided into three loose categories:

• Dangerous people (murderers, rapists, paedophiles, etc.)
• People who are after your money (scammers, prostitutes, etc.)
• Harmless but annoying people (offensive users or "cyber stalkers")

The chances of you coming across someone from any of the above category are extremely, extremely unlikely. In fact, it's the rarity of such cases that makes them newsworthy in the first place. Scammers are very common, but also the easiest to spot and avoid. In all likelihood, the most severe problem you'll ever come across will involve having to deal with someone from the third category, i.e. an offensive user.

Keeping Your Information Personal

Your personal details such as your full name, postal address, phone number(s), and email address are all precious assets. You shouldn't dish them out to any random person without stopping to consider the implications. A dating site acts like a buffer zone between you and the strangers you are talking to. You can find out whether you are compatible with someone without having to divulge any of your personal details. This is a very good thing. So don't throw it away by plastering your details all over your profile. Saving a few pounds is not worth compromising your personal safety.

Addresses

Unless you have a PO Box that is different from both your home and work address, don't share your postal address with anyone until you are convinced that he or she is not likely to be a psycho. Ideally, you shouldn't do this until you've met this person face to face at least once.

Even seemingly meaningless information can be enough for someone to be able to find out where you live, work, or hang out. So be careful what information you give out. If you live and work in a small town or work for a well-known company, it may be easy for someone to find your office address if you give out the company name. There is nothing freakier than someone turning up at your workplace to surprise you, having figured out the location from random things you said.

Phone Numbers

Your home phone number can be used to find your address, which is why it's best to give out a mobile instead. If you need to call someone from your home number and want to be safe, block your caller ID.

Full Name

Your full name can be used to track you down, especially if you live in a small town or have an unusual name. If you are on the edited version of the electoral roll, a determined person could look you up using your real name and any information he/she has about your general location. There are now some websites out there that allow people to do this very easily. If you are one of those people who have a big online presence, giving someone your full name would also allow him/her to Google you and find anything the internet has to say about you. This could be stuff like your place of work, where you study etc. depending on what's out there.

Email Address

Unless it contains your full name, your email address is generally pretty safe to give out, as long as it isn't your work address that has your company name as the domain name. Remember, though, that most cases of harassment and stalking that happen as a result of online dating involve online harassment, rather than actual stalking. Once a problem user has your email address, things can get rather irksome. Online harassment could mean bombarding you with pathetic/offensive emails but also more sinister events such as sending you dodgy things to get you in trouble at work. For this reason, it's best to create a free email account and use that to communicate with the people you meet online, at least until you know they're OK to talk to.