Several credible sources offer worthwhile dating safety tips, including the University of Alabama at Birmingtham Police.
Avoid CON-sumers in dating with the help of these great safety tips
Scammers, fraudsters and fakes dot the dating landscape like landmines. But there's much you can do to sidestep trouble.
Valuable online dating safety tips abound for your benefit. From the FBI, state attorney generals, the AARP, the online dating companies.
Even Facebook.
This InspectaDate page links to many of the more helpful tips, starting from government and other interested organizations. Aside from the links below, you can catch the latest posts on dating safety from The Date Inspector blog:
- FBI
- U.S. Office of Justice Programs
- University of Alabama at Birmingham Police
- National Consumers League
- Online Dating Magazine
- Better Business Bureau
- AARP
In addition, the National Cyber Security Alliance offers a variety of general cyber safety tips that are worthwhile. Romancescams.org provides a variety of tips and resources, including a scammer photo album and a scammer database that can tip you off to fake profiles on social networking and dating sites. And romancescam.com, which particularly focuses on Nigerian and Russian scammers, also offers a variety of resources to help you sniff out scammers and their tricks.
Safety resources from online dating companies
Various online dating companies offer safety tips that you shouldn't ignore.
"Your online dating safety begins with educating yourself on how to improve your experience and be safe doing it."
- Online Dating Magazine
With more than 3,000 online dating Web sites out there and more on the way, it's no surprise that some are more safety conscious than others.
In a landmark agreement with the California Attorney General's Office in 2012, eHarmony, Match.com, and Sparks Networks (owner of Christian Mingle, JDate, Blacksingles.com, among other online dating sites) agreed to take steps to help safeguard their users from sexual predators, sweetheart scammers, and other fraudsters. The deal originated after a woman sued Match.com stemming from her sexual assault by a man she met through Match.com. The woman sought a court order to require Match to weed out convicted sex offenders among its users.
Commonsense tips from companies to aid your personal safety – and to limit their legal liability – include avoiding people who ask for money, guarding your personal information, and meeting new online friends in person at a populated public place.
In addition, Match.com, eHarmony.com and Zoosk.com are among the online dating companies that advise you to do your own research on potential dates and love interests.
Here, in ramdom order, are direct links to the safety tips pages from some of the online dating companies: