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Dating Tips Advice Column:
What are the Dangers of Online
Dating?
Dear Dating Tips,
I'm really new to online dating. I'm wondering
if you could let me know some of the online dating dangers
that are out there. Thanks. ~
Trying to Avoid the Danger
Dear Trying to Avoid the Danger,
What a great question! In general, online dating is
a fun and effective means of meeting people compatible
with you. Tens of thousands of people have met, dated,
and eventually married as a result of their online
dating experience. However, it is still vitally important
when using online dating services, that
you exercise
caution
because there are some dangers. Here are a few:
1) The person you are communicating with may be married!
Click here for
an article on this subject .
2) Many overseas women run scams against men. They
pretend to get to know and like you and once you fall
for them they start asking you for money. Thousands
of men have been sucked into this scam, wiring money
to a girl they never met and never hearing from her
again (or hearing from her asking more money). If the
person you are communicating with asks you for money,
watch out.
3) Some people will email you instantly
asking for your email address and as soon as you
give it, you
are inundated with dating spam while never hearing
from that person again.
4) There are a few bad apples in
the online dating world. A lady who shared
an experience for
Online Dating Magazine readers expressed how one
guy showed up on her doorstep even though she never
gave him her address!
Online dating can be a great experience as long as
you take precautions in your online dating experience.
Here are a few tips:
1) Listen to your gut. If something doesn't seem right
about the person you are communicating with then this
may be an indication that you should move on. Trust
what your instincts are telling you.
2) Never give out personal information too
soon. A
person armed with your home phone number can find your
home address (without you knowing) in just a few clicks.
Read this Dating Tips article.
3) Usually a person trying to take advantage
of you is one who communicates first with you. Thus, even
if you are a female you should take the initiative
to contact people that look of interest to you. Read
this Dating Tips article.
4) Set up an anonymous email account. When
you're ready to communicate with someone outside
of the
security of the online dating service you are using,
you may want to consider using an anonymous email
account from a service like Yahoo, Hotmail,
or Go.com. Be
sure to change your account information to not give
out your full name. Doing this helps protect your
privacy more as it's fairly easy to get information
on a person based on their actual email address that
they've used for years.
5) When going on a first date, make sure
you meet in a public place and that your
friends know where you
are. Consider arranging a time to check in with one
of your friends.
6) If you have enough information on the
person you are dating, then consider running a
background check. I was surprised to learn
that a person I once dated had done this on me.
It was a smart thing for the person
to do. The only reason a person should be upset at
you running a background check is if that person
has something to hide.
7) Learn self defense. On
rare occasions, a female who has met up with a male
via
online dating
has
been assaulted. Know how
to defend yourself. There are a ton of good reasons,
even outside of online dating, to take a self-defense
course.
8) Drive yourself to the date destination. Until
you really know a person, it's a good idea to provide
your
own transportation. There's no reason the person
you are dating needs to know where you live in the
initial
stages.
Keep in mind that a person can say whatever he/she
wants in a profile and several tell outright or little
white lies in the things they say. Some lie about appearance,
some lie about marital status, and some lie about intentions.
Always be smart, alert, and listen to your instincts.
It's very much a possibility that the person you are
destined to be with is just an email away. But never
let your guard down when searching for that destiny. ~
The Dating Tipster
If you have a question for The Dating Tipster,
simply email your question to datingtips@onlinedatingmagazine.com.
Most questions are answered within 48 hours and your
privacy details (i.e. email address) are always kept
confidential and never used for any other purpose).
How has your experience with online dating or
relationships been? Take a moment to share
your experience! Our readers appreciate being
able to read, and learn from, the experiences of
people like you.
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