For the most part, online dating is an enjoyable and efficient way to meet people that are compatible with you. Tens of thousands of people have met, dated, and eventually married as a result of their online dating experience. No matter how fun it may be, your safety comes first. You must exercise caution. Here are some of the things that you should look out for.

Ÿ  You should never give out your work or home address or phone number. Unfortunately, some men have shown up on a woman’s doorstep and she never gave him any of her information. 

Ÿ  Make sure that the person you have connected with is actually single. There are a lot of married people using online dating.

Ÿ  There is really no way to detect this, but there have been complaints about people asking for an email and the receiver starts to get unusual amounts of spam.

Ÿ  Men fall in love with women that live oversees in hopes of having her travel to him or vice versa. She plays him long enough for him to wire her money to travel and then disappears. If the person you are communicating with asks you for money, stop all communication with them. You may even consider flagging them.

This not to scare you away from using the internet to find love, but you should be aware of the dangers that lurk dating services. Here are a few tips to ensure that you have the best experience possible:

One of the very first things that you should do before ever even setting up your online dating service is to set up an anonymous email account. Most online dating services have security measures set up for your protection, but there will come a time when you may want to communicate outside of your service. You’re personal email that you use for family and friends more than likely have your real name and possibly a signature that has your address or phone number on it. Your work email usually shows what company you work for and has a phone number in closing as well. This will make it easy for a complete stranger to find out where you are. When you set up the account, make sure that you do not use your full name. To follow that, there is absolutely no reason for you to ever give out your personal information. If a person even has your home phone number it is easy for them to find you.

If your gut is telling you that something is not right about a person that you are communicating with online, there is a strong possibility that you are right. Your instincts will not lead you stray.

If you feel like you don’t have enough information about your prospect, consider doing a background check on them. If they ever find out and are offended, tell them that you needed to make sure that they were who they said they were. You just never know.