We keep hearing stories about dating online that has gone wrong. There was a recent situation in which some inmates created a profile onPlenty of Fishand pretended to be an underage girl. Those same inmates also pretended to be the “under aged girl’s” parents, threatened to call the police, and allegedly extorted money from an Army vet who ended it all.
Guess what – catfishing and even extortion are very real deals. In fact, theFBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center is reporting thatthere were 51,146 reported crimes of extortion in 2018. How to avoid? There are some basics…like this:
- Confirm Who You Are Talking To– With a quick Google search, you can find out a lot about a person. We also live in the age of video chatting…and if video chatting its “too much” at first, okay…but don’t let it go on too long.
- Make Sure Things Match– Ask questions to see if the profile aligns with the answers you’re given.
- Meet In Person-Nothing beats this.There’s nothing major that you can physically hide.Meet in a public place, of course, but it could be helpful to bring a friend with you to spy from afar.
- Talk To Friends– If you don’t bring anyone with you, let your friends and family know who you’re going to meet up with and where. It’s just a precaution…don’t be mysterious. And you know what? My girlfriend texts me a pic of the driver’s license as soon as she meets up with them.
- Watch Out For Common Tricks– If someone is tell you that they love you right off the rip…first of all, YIKES! But yeah, consider that a trick. Chat with the person on the app for as long as you feel comfortable. No need to rush to give personal email and phone information.
- Don't Hand Out Personal Information– Meet them in person a few times before exchanging your personal information. Like a phone number is fine…but let’s not start handing out your home address, where you went to school…where your parents work…you know…STUFF!
- Report Issues– DO NOT BE AFRAID TO REPORT FREAKS. People who are violating policies aren’t going to be any cooler in the “real world.” If they’re a nutball online…it only gets worse from there. Don’t take chances…it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Source:Greenville Online