Online Dating Safety Tips


If you’ve never been on an online dating site, consider yourself lucky. I’ve been there - and it can be scary. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good people who use the online platforms to find their significant others - I was lucky enough to find a really great guy through online dating.

But I met a lot of scary guys too! My family and friends said I should write a book. I had a title working title for a while: The Narcissist, the Widow, and the Nazi a Story of Online Dating. Oh, the stories I could tell…

The scary doesn’t just favor one sex either. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about women being just as scary as men online and in person.

What online dating experiences have you had? Tips for staying safe?

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OH, My goodness, you could not stress this enough!
So true && ESPECIALLY for women! Could “y’all” do something on this topic and post on Facebook.

In my experience:
-Do a full search on them on a web browser. (You can also do a back image search) More than likely if they have a criminal background you can find it on a web browser.
-Be wary of those who don’t have other social media
-ONLY meet them in public place where there is plenty of people (For women: Show up 5 mins late and see who you are dealing with. Men would not recommend if you want a second date)
-Don’t give your home address or WORKPLACE —Say what you do not where,
-PLEASE don’t go home with them on first date(I’m not judging just saying for protection and be convinced who they are)
-Download an app where a trusted friend/family can see your location if worried.
-----> As you know carry protection and I mean FIREARM so don’t go where you can’t

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@Dawn The world can be a scary place. I dated a bit through Match. I found my mate on Match. As far as the women I met, some were very scary. Most of the women I dated had provided pictures of themselves that were a bit “outdated”… by twenty years. I didn’t set any impossible standards. OK, I was not into piercings, visible tattoos and unicorn hair. Coffee shops are great to meet new friends. Go into a date with the understanding that either person can walk at anytime. We have folks in this area with some nefarious intent (foreign agents) so proceed with the utmost caution. IMHO don’t entertain quick “hook ups”, which are the most dangerous situations. Lust never wins over common sense.

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:rofl: :joy: :joy: :rofl:

Me neither—Definitely have class and standard (No offense anybody, I’m sure I don’t fit many women list of standards)

So, SO true!

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Some dating advice for gun advocates:

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THAT IS SOOOO TRUE!

The lefts heads EXPLODE! I’m going to put that on Facebook hahaha

“My life has been in danger this whole time!!!”
“What is that!!!”

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@Jeff-A1 and @Randall318, I’ll be sure to keep my sleeves rolled down and my foot covered since you’re not fans of tattoos and my hair covers my extra ear piercings… :stuck_out_tongue:

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That’s happening :wink:

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Oh gosh! The hard part for me was finding myself in that situation all of a sudden after being married since HS… which was a while ago. Replaced by a newer model… oh well, another story.

What I found was that at early 50’s I was a hot commodity! Gads. I learned really really quick that there are a lot of angry crazy women out there. I also did use Match, paid for it even, and that helped some.

My protocol was to chat online first. Next was to meet at a coffee shop, during the day, usually on a weekend. I would park a couple of blocks away and walk to keep what I drove out of sight. Notice I did not give out my phone number yet? Or even my email address. I would usually do this twice (if there was going to be a second time). Then maybe a lunch somewhere (no alcohol, as illegal in MT to CCW into places that serve, which is about every dinner place). I did not have anyone to tell where I was going, so I was out of luck there. My profile was also pretty explicit, and it did state that I had guns and liked to shoot. People do not read anyway as I found out. It quickly would prove out that I frequently was being water boarded… or maybe that would have been preferred. It was a nightmare. Mostly I just wanted to work on my social skills and get out of the house (at the time I lived on my ranch over an hour from town).

The current gal that I am dating has her own stories as well. She followed a similar protocol to what I was doing, with the addition of telling her kids/parents where she was going. The boys would call a couple of times to “check” on her, and give her an out if needed.

Funny thing is that we can all have triggers. I don’t care about tats and piercings as I have my own anyway (@Dawn) . There is one certain haircut that will send me the other direction, fast. I found that a certain type of woman had that cut, and I wanted no part of that.

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Actually

:hushed:

I love tattoos and certain piercing but like have you ever seen one that was OVER done(guys included)! Tattoos on face and gauge piercings that put a hole the size of a quarter threw their ear.

Again. ^^^ If there is someone like that here, forgive me and I’m sure I look like a nerd to most.

I better stop digging my hole deeper :sweat_smile: :zipper_mouth_face: :zipper_mouth_face: :zipper_mouth_face:

Great!!
We all need a reminder once in a while. Some of us forgot the Elementary School teachers and police officers who came to talk to kids concerning the dangers on the internet.

—Speaking of kids, A SAD story of a local young boy thought he was going to see a girl and the taxi driver who was supposed to “bring” him to a girl murdered this young child. Obviously the boy should never have been dating at that age but still concerning for both kids and ADULTS.

Know who you are dealing with!

The best part of the whole story though is a “Caddo Sheriff” pulled up on the killer where he was trying to dispose of the poor young man’s body(but did not see the remains) when he claimed he lost his keys. The deputy let him go only to go imminently back after the boys missing report came in. They had their killer though…As sad as it is.

@Dawn You are a beautiful young woman and I’m showing my age. The population in the US has nearly doubled since I was born. Folks do more to stand out now. Got it. I almost got a tattoo right before I got out of the Navy in 1984. A buddy of mine and I were heading into Perth, OZ and were talking about getting inked. An elderly Australian lady sitting behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said “You probably shouldn’t do that.” She explained why and I respected her wisdom. I never had a hankering since. I also like to donate blood and tattoos can be a no-go.

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Know the feeling, brother. When it boiled down to financial prospectus, my career aspirations, etc. I had to bolt. The “six sixes” in red pill parlance. Now there are all sorts of new filters for weeding out prospects like the MGTOW bunch that boils everything down to sexual market value…some really shallow thinking. Love and desire for companionship is a weakness. That’s just Beta male thought…

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I realize that it does not cover every situation, but I do use the following:
Don’t go to bars to meet people (can’t CCW there anyway).
Don’t meet people in Bars (see above).
Those two can help with a lot of the safety issues right there. I prefer the coffee option as after I have paid I can leave at any time. They are usually pretty public too.

If at all possible, tell somewhere where/when you are going. Perhaps have them call you to check and possibly give you an out if you don’t feel comfortable with just getting up and out (I had to learn that doing that was ok).

Park away from your meeting place, if possible and comfortable. I am in a smaller place, so you tend to see the same cars a lot. My intent was to not identify myself with a vehicle. On the same note, you may want to use a coffee place that you do not normally frequent (if you do that sort of thing). I will add that my partner did not do this one time, and the guy figured out where she worked because he saw her car (kinda unique here). He would drop in and ask for her whenever her car was there (turned into a stalker situation). This was from a single “coffee shop” meet.

I really suggest that you do use something like Match, where you can use their chat feature and use their email system that masks your own. In my case I setup another email account for just that purpose, that had no identifying features to tie back to me. I also could not be looked up via FB or similar as I did not have an account.

Overall I would use the same meeting protocol for friends who were trying to set me up. Found out the hard way that just because they know someone from work etc, does not mean they know them well, or that person is not bat nuts either outside of work.

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With Red Flag aka Extreme Risk Protection Laws in many states and more seem to be on their way and not modified yet to include due process; I would be very careful the ladies who I ask out if I was still in the dating pool.
It’s not fair but it’s really reality until laws are changed or dropped.

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Up until the head exploded (only figuratively in the end); but the rest, really happened to me. What an ending to a great weekend up the California coast. Oh well. /sagging sigh

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I’m single and hoping that will change.

Public places, that’s a given, I carry at least 2 forms of protection when meeting (semi,revolver,etc), have a GPS tracker, and whatnot.

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I realized what was said may appear critical but in all truth, some of my best friends growing up had tattoos all over. In addition, my brother in law has gauges in his ear’s and one the best dudes I know…

What I should have said, “When looking for a date” but even that’s wrong. Forgive me please, friends.

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@Todd30 >> What to do on your first on line date. CLICK HERE >> . Benny Hill [Learning All The Time] - YouTube

@Jeff-A1 >> what about the dog ? Now you will have 2 <<image