Dating Safety Tips

Online Dating Precautionary Tips:

Our priority at It’s Just Complicated is your safety. Our goal is to empower and educate you by providing online dating precaution tips – both online and offline.

We encourage you to read the following dating precaution tips as safety navigation. Your sound judgement and instinct are essential to protecting yourself. These dating precaution tips are no substitute for your own judgement.

Trust Your Gut.

There is no doubt that online dating works well if you are looking for someone with common interests, but when it comes to building a relationship, it takes a significant amount of time and attention. Keep your guard up. You want to see consistency in terms of answers to questions and their behavior.

Look for red flags that indicate they may not be legitimate or that they are not being honest in how they present themselves. If someone wants to know all about you but is reluctant to share information about them, be on the alert. If the phone number given to you doesn’t work or won’t take messages, be skeptical. If someone seems too eager to profess their love, then be very wary. If he or she never seems able to meet in person, this too is a red flag.

Protect Your Identity.

You should always safeguard your identity on dating sites. In real life you wouldn’t give someone you don’t know personal information about you over the phone, and it’s no different when you meet someone online. Never include your last name, home address, email address, place of work, or any other form of identification that could be revealed through an internet profile or initial messaging.

People who are legitimately using online dating will respect your reasons for keeping personal information private and will likely be doing the same.

Naturally, providing your phone number is an important step in getting to know someone better. As a precaution and for added security, we encourage you to consider using your phone’s privacy features when you call, such as private number blocking. If things turn sour, you can easily move on from an unwanted relationship.

Note: It’s Just Complicated will never send you an email asking for your username and password information. Any such communications should be reported immediately.

Protect Your Finances and Private Information.

Under no circumstances should you share personal information such as: your social security number, credit card number or banking information. Never respond to any request to send money, especially overseas or by wire transfer. For additional information and to learn more, click and visit the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s advice to avoid online romance scams, here: http://onguardonline.gov/articles/0004-online-dating-scams.

Protect Your Account.

Be aware of your surroundings and use caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.

Give Yourself Time Getting to Know Someone.

While online communication can offer comfort and closeness, it simply takes time to really get to know someone – so don’t rush. We strongly encourage you to keep your communications on the platform and do your own research before meeting in person. Fraudsters usually attempt to persuade people to communicate off of the platform immediately.

Arrange to Meet in Public.

When you are finally ready for a face-to-face meeting, choose a busy place out in public. You can meet in a shopping mall, bookstore, or coffee shop. Do not ask your date to pick you up and don’t have them drive you home. Let someone else in on your plans so that they know where you are meeting this person, what time and who your date is. Even better, have this person drop you off and set a time for them to pick you up. These initial in-person meetings should be kept short. If the two of you like each other, you can always arrange a second date.

Tell At least One Friend.

It is crucial that you never go out to meet someone (even if it’s in a public place) unless you tell someone. In fact, give your friend the details of your plans and when you plan on finishing. You’ll want to make sure they expect you to text or call them afterwards – especially after the first few dates.

Stay Sober.

Regardless of how confident you feel about how well you’re learning about the other person, it’s important to keep a clear mind as alcohol consumption and/or other substances can impair your judgement and potentially put you in harm’s way. Never leave your beverage and personal items unattended.

Report the Red Flags.

Finally, here at It’s Just Complicated, we urge you to report all suspicious activity that violates our Terms of Use.

We pride ourselves in classy, sophisticated environment, making this a safe and secure way to connect online and to grow and support one another. We do this by investigating red flags. Please be assured all reports are kept completely confidential.

Should you ever need assistance or just someone to talk to related to violence or abuse of any kind, please do not hesitate to contact a hotline that can help advise and guide.

•  Rape, Abuse and Incest National Hotline:

o  1.800.626.HOPE1.800.626.HOPE

https://www.rainn.org/

•  National Domestic Violence Hotline:

o  1.800.799.SAFE or 1.800.787.3224

https://www.thehotline.org/

•  National Domestic Violence Hotline:

o  1.800.230.7526

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

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