Online Dating - How to Date Online Safely

In the modern world of dating, couples are connecting digitally. Nearly 30% of U.S. adults ages 18–24 use online dating sites or apps — a percentage that has tripled in the last two years.

Overall, 15% of American adults use these websites, showing that the stigma attached to online dating is disappearing. In 2015, the Pew Research Center found that 59% of people thought online dating was a good way to meet people, whereas just 44% shared that opinion in 2005.

Though its popularity is rising, you may still wonder if online dating is safe. Connecting virtually has risks, but it can be a fun and low-pressure way to meet potential matches if you practice caution. Here are five tips for how you can have a safe online dating experience.

Online Dating Reviews

1. Use a Trustworthy Site

There are 2,500 online dating sites in the U.S., and fraud is on the rise. There are dozens of online dating websites and apps that target college students, so take note even if you live in a safe location.

Take Action: You can often depend on larger, more reputable sites — like Tinder, J Date, Christian Mingle, OK Cupid, and Match.com — to protect your private information. Most of these safe online dating services require a membership fee, so choose wisely.

2. Keep Your Contact Information Private

“There’s a difference between being cyber savvy and cyber secure,” says Michael Kaiser, the executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance. Any potential dates will likely run your name through a detailed Internet search. They may find your office location on LinkedIn, your address tagged in an Instagram post, or your phone number linked to a Craigslist ad.

Take Action: Never post any identifying details on your profile — including your address, phone number, or personal email. Make sure you also limit the information posted on your other virtual platforms. Set your security settings to the maximum level on all your social media accounts and never authorize an app to post your location.

3. Play Detective on Potential Suitors

It’s important to verify your suitor is who they say they are by checking where else their photos are posted. Perhaps their dating profile image is the same as their Twitter profile picture — people tend to be much less filtered on social media sites like Twitter, and you could discover some unsavory personality traits. You may also find out whether or not they are using a fake photo of a model or celebrity.

Take Action: Copy the profile picture of a potential match into the Google Images search bar. Google will search for that image using facial recognition, landmark identification, and photo binary data. If you’re browsing a dating app on your mobile device, use a mobile version of Google Image search.

4. Be Smart About Face-to-Face Meetings 

If you’ve clicked with someone and would like to meet in person, choose your location wisely. Never meet at your home or office where they could easily find you again, and never choose a secluded location — Match.com recommends you immediately end the date if your date pressures you to do otherwise.

Take Action: Before you leave to meet a virtual date, tell a roommate or friend who you are meeting, where you are going, and what time you plan to be home. Consider planning a “safe call”: arrange for a friend to call you during the date to make sure you feel comfortable. Always drive yourself to and from the date, instead of relying on someone you met online for a car ride home.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Report Someone

Respected dating sites will encourage users to report any shady activity. These sites do not tolerate behavior that is aggressive or illegal. Most dating sites include the option to block an individual user if your interactions make you feel uneasy.

Take Action: If someone is harassing or extorting you, contact the dating site’s customer service immediately. The Federal Trade Commission encourages anyone involved in a relationship scam to also contact its Complaint Assistant, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, and your state Attorney General.

If you approach online dating with caution, it can be a fun and enjoyable way to experience the dating pool. You’ll find new people you’d never have the opportunity to meet, and you may end up like the 5% of Americans whose long-term committed relationships began online.

*Safe-Wise has conducted impartial research to recommend sites. Individuals should consider their own needs and best safety practices when deciding on a dating site to use.

Dating.com Review - Useful Tips to Avoid Dating Scams

According to a statistic of Dating Site Reviews, in the past there years, users in America and Canada lost $1 billion on scamming. Also, it is estimated that there were 25.000 scammers on dating.com review apps at any time users were online.  Moreover, Dating Site Reviews stated that 1 out of 7 profiles is fraudulent. Because of that, more than one million users become the victim of romance scams in the USA. 

However, do not consider scamming as a very big barrier which prevents you from finding your soulmate as well as the opportunity to love and feel loved. 

Dating.com Review

Here are some tips for you: 

I. How to recognize the scammer on a dating site

1. The profile photos

Do not just focus on hot, sexy, stunning photo profiles. 

After having a survey with the customer service staff of Mingle2, we realized that most of the scammers used attractive, gorgeous photos for their avatar. 

In a topic on Quora, Ashlie Crozier, a victim of scamming, wrote that her scammer sent her tons of photos of a model. 

In addition, Chen Xiaoli of  Shanghai Daily stated that in Shenzhen, a 42-year-old woman used her makeup skills to look younger. Then, she defrauded her boyfriend of US $1 million. 

From these two examples, we find that scammers usually use photoshop, makeup skill, and beauty filters to trick the victim. For users of online dating sites, especially Mingle2, remember to be watchful over the hot, sexy, stunning photo profiles. 

2. Scammer’s stories

After a short conversation, the scammers will take action. 

Account James Rosten shared on Quora: “Scammers use whatever supports their stories, and whatever is available to them” for their final purpose. James told that his friend was scammed by a man who pretended to be the United States Air Force General. That man said that he was in Afghanistan and claimed that his wife had died in a car accident along with his two daughters 15 years previous. Eventually, she sent him $1000. 

Additionally, the support team of Mingle2 also give us some example of stories of scammers.  For instance, some of them ask the victims for money to have a sex chat with them and others want a plane ticket for a real-life date and so forth.

So, if someone directly or indirectly mention money, you should stop contacting them.

II. What should you do when you face scamming on dating sites

When you think someone is a scammer or using a fake profile, besides stopping keeping in touch with them, you should report them and bring the matter to the support team’s attention. 

The support team will highly appreciate you if you send them the information about the scammers. It can keep their community clean and safe for other users. 

III. Tips for yourself to avoid fraud on dating site

1. Do not share your private information. 

When you enter a dating site or a dating app, sharing the real information about your age, name, marriage status is very helpful because the app will choose the suitable matches to show you. Then, you can find your soulmate easier. 

However, for the confidential information such as phone number, ID, please do not mention them on your profile.  According to Laura Shin – a Forbes staff,  if you use a cell phone and you register a social network, the bank website, and other web services, the hacker can steal your money, get your sensitive information and blackmail you. That is the reason why we highly recommend you should not move to another site so early. 

2. Do not move to other chat sites so early

Most of the scamming cases take place on another site, not the original dating.co scam site. A customer service staff declared that most of the users reported that they were scammed on other sites such as Whats app, Hangouts…

For him, users on dating app should take time to know more about their match first. Then, both can move to another site when they are closer. Because some sites ask for the phone number, this will reveal private information and is a bit dangerous. 

3. Take full advantage of the advanced features. 

In fact, not many scammers will spend money on paying for advanced features on dating app, so if you are upgrading your account, you reduce your risk of being scammed. For example, some apps like  Date in Asia, they offer the Premium Lounge for the Power Account users. With this room, the user can chat, connect and match with 100% real users who have the hunger for finding a serious relationship. 

In short, it is not easy to find someone who truly understands you, so just be patient. There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved. With these tips, Mingle2 hope that you will have more useful information to find your true love. More information visit this site: Dating.com Scam