5 safety tips for online dating
February 13th, 2014
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If you’re going to be connecting online this Valentine’s Day (or ever), follow these safety and privacy tips.
- Avoid catfishing. This is a type of social engineering designed to entice you into a relationship in order to steal your personal information, your money, or both. Always remember that people on the other end of online conversations might not be who they say they are. Treat all email and social networking messages with caution when they come from someone you don’t know.
- Use online dating websites you trust. Knowing when to trust a website depends in part on who publishes it, what information they want, and what you want from the site. Before you sign up on a site, read the privacy policy. Can’t find it? Find another site. For more information, see How do I know if I can trust a website?
- Be careful with the information you post on online. Before you put anything on a social networking site, personal website, or dating profile, think about what you are posting, who you are sharing it with, and how this will reflect on your online reputation. For more information, watch this video about the dangers of oversharing.
- Be smart about details in photographs. Photographs can reveal a lot of personal information, including identifiable details such as street signs, house numbers, or your car’s license plate. Photographs can also reveal location information. For more information, see Use location services more safely.
- Block and report suspicious people. Use the tools in your email, social networking program, or dating website to block and report unwanted contact. Read this if you think you might already be a victim of a scam.
Categories: catfishing, child safety, cybercriminals, cybersafety, cybersecurity, e-mail, e-mail scams, email, email scams, fraud, hoax, id theft, malicious software, malware, online dating, phishing, privacy, security