It is common knowledge that people will not always tell the truth online. This is however rather hard to tell, because you can’t really make anything up about the truthfulness of a text without any expression accompanying it. You can’t look at body language and can’t see the person behind the words in an unfiltered way. Therefore, it is quite easy to scam people using online dating apps and websites. Whether it’s a website for young people to date, or an over 60s dating site, it’s always advisable to be careful around these types of places.
Start with your profile
In order to stay safe there are a few good guidelines to follow. The very first thing you get to see about another person is their profile. Though the layout for this can differ per website, there are still certain features that you will have to pay attention to for most platforms.
First of all it’s important to keep the personal details you share to a minimum. So for example, don’t use your full real name as a username, but just your first name or an online alias if that’s fitting for said website. Also don’t be too precise about where you live, or where you work, or other places you go: i.e. just put the city where you live as you place of residence and no full address, or just your line of work instead of the exact firm you’re with.
Making matches
So when your profile is set up and ready to go you can start looking for matches. When you have found someone it’s likely that you will go ahead and chat with them on the platform for a bit. Always be careful with such things and don’t share personal information that’s too sensitive, cause online you can never be completely certain who is behind the other side of the connection. Though it might sound very logical, don’t pay money to the person you’re chatting with if you have never met this person before. It’s surprisingly easy to get talked into trusting someone, giving them let’s say $500 and then never hearing anything from them again. You might be thinking, oh well that won’t ever happen to me, but that’s what people who experienced a scam like this thought too. So don’t share anything sensitive before you are sure who it is behind the other side of the screen.
Meeting matches
A good way to get to know the person behind the screen is of course, to meet up in real life. When doing this, keep in mind that you don’t actually know who you’re talking to. So it’s advisable to meet in public for a first time and to stay in public. And if you really wish to meet somewhere private, though this is ill advisable, at least tell someone you trust that you’re going there and who you’re meeting. So meet at a restaurant for example, or perhaps a public park, or a zoo, somewhere with other people around.
Furthermore, in this kind of situations, whether you got your date from Tinder, 60dating.com, or whatever obscure dating platform you prefer, always trust your gut. If something feels of, or if you’re just getting uncomfortable with the person you’re meeting, just leave. There will be enough possibilities for you to meet people through this platform, so if somethings isn’t working out, just let this person know and leave. Ensuring you’re both on the same page about expectations can help in keeping things comfortable for both you and the other person who you have matched with online.
