If you are going to use any online dating 
service you should read the following:

Safety Tips Worth Reading

10 Tips for Online Dating Safety
 

Personals sites offer a fun and secure environment for meeting and relating 
with others online. They are also a great place to build loving and trusting
friendships that can lead to long lasting real life relationships. Whether
you decide to correspond with members online or meet members offline, please
use sound judgment and be responsible for your conduct online and off. In
both the virtual and real worlds, common sense is your best safety tool. 

Start slow. Watch out for someone who seems too good to be true. Begin by 
first communicating solely via email. Be on the lookout for odd behavior or
inconsistencies. "Listen" to your correspondent’s words. The person at the 
other end may not be who or what he/she says. Trust your instincts. If 
anything makes you uncomfortable, walk away for your own safety and protection. 
  
Guard Your Anonymity. All correspondence with other members should be done 
via the sites email system or via your own email program using your anonymous 
username, which does not reveal any personal contact information about you. 
Never include your last name, real email address, personal Web site URL, home 
address, phone number, place of work, or any other identifying information in 
your profile or initial emails you exchange with other members. Make sure your 
email signature file is turned off, or does not include identifying information, 
when corresponding with another member via your own email. Stop communicating 
with anyone who pressures you for this information or attempts in any way to 
trick you into revealing it. Take all the time you need to become comfortable 
with someone before revealing any person contact information. Ask questions 
and make sure you are satisfied with the answers. Trust your instincts, move 
cautiously and be selective. 
  
Exercise Caution and Common Sense. Careful, well-thought decisions generally 
lead to better results in dating, and this is certainly true with online dating 
too. Guard against trusting the untrustworthy. Any suitor must earn your trust 
gradually, through consistently honorable, forthright behavior. Your job is to 
take all the time you need to test for a trustworthy person, and pay careful 
attention along the way. Take a relatively conservative approach to trusting 
anyone you meet online. If you think someone is lying, it is likely that they 
are, so act accordingly. Move on to someone you can eventually trust. Conduct 
yourself and your romances in a responsible manner. Don’t fall in love at the 
click of a mouse. Don’t become prematurely intimate with someone, even if that 
intimacy only occurs online. 
 
Request a Photo. A photo will give you a good idea of the person's appearance, 
which may prove helpful in achieving a gut feeling about your correspondent. 
In fact, it is best to view several images of this person in a variety of 
settings: casual, formal, indoor, outdoors. If he or she continuously comes 
up with an excuse, it may be because that person has something to hide. 
Getting a photo scanned is less than ten dollars at Kinko’s, so there is 
little excuse for not doing it. 
  
Talk Via Telephone. A phone call can reveal much about a person’s communication 
and social skills. It is worth the cost of the call to protect your security. 
But do not give out your personal phone number to a stranger. Try a cell phone 
number instead for added security. Or make arrangements to call from a pay phone.  
Only when you feel completely comfortable should you furnish your phone number. 
 
Meet When YOU Are Ready. The beauty of meeting and relating online is that you 
can gradually collect information and then make a choice about pursuing the 
relationship in the real world. You are never obligated to meet anyone, 
regardless of your level of online intimacy. And even if you do decide to 
arange a meeting, you always have the right to change your mind. It’s possible 
that your decision to keep the relationship at the anonymous level is based on 
a hunch that you can’t logically explain. Trust yourself. Go with your gut 
instincts, even when they can’t be logically explained. Never meet someone who 
argues against your instincts, finds logical flaws with your feelings or 
pressures you in any way. 
  
Watch for Red Flags. Pay attention to any displays of anger, intense 
frustration or attempts at pressuring or controlling you. Acting in a 
passive-aggressive manner, making demeaning or disrespectful comments or 
any physically inappropriate behavior are all red flags. You should also 
be concerned if your date exhibits any of the following conduct without 
providing an acceptable explanation:  
   Provides inconsistent information about age, interests, appearance, 
marital status, profession, employment, etc.  
   Refuses to speak to you on the phone after establishing ongoing, 
online intimacy.  
   Appears in person to be significantly different from his or 
her online persona. 
   Never introduces you to friends, professional associates or 
family members. 
   Fails to provide direct answers to direct questions.  

Select the Safest Possible Environment. When you make the choice to meet 
offline, always tell someone where you are going and when you will return. 
Leave your date’s name and telephone number with that person. Never arrange 
for your date to pick you up at home. Provide your own transportation, meet 
in a public place at a time when many people are present, and when the date 
is over, leave on your own as well. A familiar restaurant or coffee shop, 
at a time when a lot of other people will be present is often a fine choice. 
Avoid hikes, bike rides or drives in remote areas for the first few dates. 
If you decide to move to another location, take your own car. When the 
timing is appropriate, thank your date for getting together and say goodbye. 
  
Take Extra Caution Outside Your Area. If you are flying in from another area, 
arrange for your own car and a hotel room. Do not disclose the name of your 
hotel and never allow your date to make the arrangements for you. Rent a car 
at the airport and drive directly to your hotel. Call your date from the 
hotel or meet at the location you have already agreed to. If the location 
seems inappropriate or unsafe, go back to your hotel. Try to contact your 
date at that location, or leave a message on a home machine. Always make 
sure a friend or family member knows your plans and has your contact 
information. And if possible, carry a cell phone at all times. 
 
Get Yourself Out of a Jam. Never do anything you feel unsure about. If you 
are in any way afraid of your date, use your best judgment to diffuse the 
situation and get out of there. Excuse yourself long enough to call a friend 
for advice, ask someone else on the scene for help, or slip out the back 
door and drive away. If you feel you are in danger call the police. It’s 
always better to be safe than sorry. Never worry or feel embarrassed about 
your behavior. Your safety is much more important than one person’s opinion 
of you. 
 
While liars, cheaters and imposters certainly ply their craft on the Web, 
you’ll also find them in nightclubs, among the membership ranks of off-line 
dating services, at cocktail parties, and occasionally sitting across from 
you at your local café. Regardless of where, or how, you meet someone, 
dating is never a risk-free activity. A little caution will reduce your risk 
in these matters of the heart.