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Admit it, you have thought about giving online dating a try, haven’t you? There must have been some or other cold, lonely evening that you thought about logging into a dating site and setting up a profile, just in case…

Living in the 21st century, the sad fact is that most of us spend the larger part of our late teens and early- to mid twenties pursuing our careers, with the result that our personal lives (and romantic relationships in specific) tend to be put on the backburner. And before you know it, you wake up one morning and all your friends are married, you haven’t had a date in ages and all the single men you know are either creepy or come with more baggage than Posh Spice.

So, what do you do? Sit back and wait for your sister to set you up with her accountant? Join a gym and sidle up to your instructor? How about an option that allows you to screen potential mates even before you meet them and get emotionally involved? Welcome to online dating sites. We use the internet to hire cars, shop for clothes, study foreign languages and keep in touch with friends in different countries, why not for online dating? It only makes sense to use this infinite global resource for this reason as well.

While dating sites can be a great way to meet like-minded people, the fact remains that the medium is susceptible to misuse by individuals with less than honourable intentions. That is why you should take care to protect yourself when participating in online dating. Here are a few handy tips:

1. Trust your instincts. As humans, we have all been blessed with a complex psychological tool we colloquially refer to as our ‘gut feeling’. This tool uses a combination of conscious and sub-conscious observations and prompts to let us know when to get out of a given situation. Never ignore your instincts. Refer to your ‘little inner voice’ every time you read a profile, a response to an email, have a phone conversation or meet in person.

2. Take your time. In the initial stages of online dating, it is best to keep your personal information private. This includes your name, surname, home telephone number and home address. It may seem prudish to withhold this information but there are some scary things you should be aware of, namely: • With your home phone number, any person could find out where you live, what your income is and even the value of your home. • Your full name can allow people to ‘Google’ your name and perform an internet search that may result in them knowing where you work, what you do and even what your phone number is. • With both your home number and your full name they can find out basically everything.

3. Use anonymous communication methods. Set up a free email account with Yahoo, Gmail or Hotmail to facilitate your email communication and use a prepaid cell phone account or Skype for telephone conversations. This will allow you more time to get to know the person in question better before divulging any personal details.

4. Use a reputable online dating service. There is a saying that goes ‘you get what you pay for’ and this is true for online dating as well. Free dating services are all good and well, but take into account that ‘free’ means that people who use the site are completely unidentified since they don’t need to provide any credit card information. This provides a greater opportunity for potentially dangerous individuals to misuse the platform.

5. Be on the lookout for odd characteristics. Once you start communicating with a potential mate via email or telephone you should be wary of any odd characteristics you may notice. Are they easily affronted, do they seem controlling, etc.? If you notice anything that is not above board, that should be your cue to tuck tail and run.

Online dating can be a fun, rewarding experience. Just make sure to keep yourself safe and align yourself with a reputable dating site.

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