I find the dating scene to be so complicated and scary. Most people in our society today are involved with online dating. But there are so many possibilities of becoming targets. And what I mean by targets is, victims of rapists, abusers, or thiefs! What should a person do if they find themselves in a position where they like someone, but they’ve met online, and are unsure of what percautions to take? Here are some safety tips for you to fall back on.

1. Always meet your interest in a public place. If they tell you they don’t like public places for
some reason or another. Leave them alone! They are probably up to no good.

2. Get as much information as you can about your interest before you meet. Address, Place
of employment, Bank, etc., and check up on this information before meeting them. You need to
know that they are being honest and up front with you from the start.

3. Bring a friend to watch over you. This friend should not be joining you, but be off to the side
close by, taking pictures. This friend should get a picture of their car, license plate number,
the interest themselves, etc. They won’t know who you know (unless you have their
face plastered on the website you met them on).

4. Don’t forget to bring your cell phone, which hopefully has voice activation. If at any point you
start feeling uncomfortable with his advances, you can just reach inside your purse and push
the side of your phone and start recording. I give this advice, because if you decide you want
to file charges against him for harassment, the police will need some kind of proof.

5. Never give them too much information. Don’t get into bank accounts, where your kids go to
school (it’s none of their business unless they want to start paying their child support), how
much income you make, where you keep your valuables in the home (they could follow you
home and break in while your gone, or worse, sleeping!)

It’s a very unsafe world these days, and people are becoming harder and harder to trust. I know…I’ve made this mistake. And it almost cost me my life! Worse yet, I didn’t have the smarts at the time to take these precautions, and the police had very little to go on. I never did catch my attacker.

Be safe…not sorry!