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You can also check in with them to let them know everything is OK. We have launched an app that allows you to assign contacts to check in with. You can then check in which lets them know everything is fine or you can alert them to some kind of danger, allowing them to get in touch with the proper authorities. If you are interested in meeting up with a particular person, do a little bit of research into them first. Putting their name into search engines and other social media sites should help give you a little more insight into their life.
No matter what the circumstances, sexual activity against your will is a crime. Police and charities are here to help and support you.
Sadly, people aren't always what they seem. Dating sites, social networks and other internet services are targeted by scammers.
Scammers want one thing and one thing only — money. Here are a few examples of common scammer behaviours to watch out for and report:. Declarations of love - If someone you are in contact with starts declaring their love for you within a matter of weeks or even days or hours , be cautious. You need to know someone to come to love them. Instant messages of love could be someone trying to get right into your life, possibly for all the wrong reasons. Requests for money - This really should send alarm bells ringing whatever the form the request comes in.
Scammers will look to gain your sympathy with the stories they tell. Someone offering you money - Who gives money away to strangers through a dating site? These are always scams. The same goes for anyone with a sure-fire get rich quick schemes. The only one trying to get rich quick is the scammer as he or she fishes for your bank details or other financial information.
Threats and blackmail - These are ugly words. But some scammers have tried to threaten money out of people for not showing pictures, webcam footage or messages that they have managed to get out of users online. Or stories about a desperately ill family member who needs help with medical expenses.
These sorts of pitches may take time to come out in messages, time in which you may very well have come to trust and value a relationship with your online contact. That does not make them any less of a lie. Someone asking you to use a wire service to get money to them is up to no good. They can happen but it is an unlikely way for a relationship to start offline so be wary online.
They may dodge questions or make excuses for not meeting or speaking on the telephone. Their profile or communications may also have odd spelling and grammar. Your private life should stay private until you know someone really well and can start over time to trust them with things.
Report them; however bad that might feel at the time. The Police have national and local teams there to attack fraudsters. Let them protect you — and others. If a contact starts to feel strange and especially if money gets raised you might ask a friend or relative if you are not at a point where you think there is something to report to the dating service.
If they advise you to back off Scamming is a pretty sick line of business but it is a business for them. Right, online dating is now so widely accepted that personal safety sometimes gets overlooked. After all, most dates that start online end up in either a love connection or with the two of you going your separate ways.
But it is easy to let your guard down or find yourself in an unsafe situation — especially if Grey Goose swoops in. That's why it's important to have a few common-sense strategies that keep you safe, according to law enforcement experts and others.
Sorry for the buzzkill, but Fisher advises making the first date alcohol free. If you do drink, Det.
Trent Thurber, who works on the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's high-tech task force, suggested limiting alcohol and added, "Don't let someone bring a drink to you unless you see it come straight from the bar or waitstaff. This goes beyond what you reveal to a Tinder date.
In general, practice a little discretion, experts said. You don't want personal details, such as your address, or precisely where you plan to be on Saturday night, floating around out there on social media. Everything from people's addresses to engagement announcements, to someone selling an engagement ring on Craigslist," Alexander said.
Talking by phone will help you get a feel for the person, Thurber said. No doubt, a bold question, and the person could lie.